The Quarrelsome Quarry
by Steven Dalton
Summary: Join the Baudelaire orphans in this fifth installment of Another Series of Unfortunate Events, in which they travel to a mysterious and dangerous canyon in order to dig up secrets of their parents' past. R/R!
1. Dear Reader, Book the Fifth

_**Another Series Of Unfortunate Events**_

_**Book, the Fifth**_

_**The Quarrelsome Quarry**_

_**Because of you Beatrice, our love was like the sand on the beach, unending yet easily washed away**_

_Dear Reader,_

_ A quarry is a site upon which intrepid individuals search for clues about the ancient past as a hobby to find out more about history and learn something from it in the process._

_The Baudelaires' own time among the excavating group of another secret society however was not meant as a pastime and their striving to find out more about their parents' past will result in them learning a terrible truth about it. They will also encounter construction equipment, dynamite, misplaced car keys and sand in their shoes._

_I must continue to investigate into their history so that I may learn something from it, but you can choose to do the opposite and wisely be like the ostrich and stick your head in the sand,_

With All Due Respect,

Lemony Snicket

**_Another exciting chapter in the Baudelaires unbearable lives begins! r/r please  
><em>**


	2. Chapter One

**_One_**

"And they lived happily ever after" is a phrase that is often used at the end of a fairy tale or some other account that is not real because actually no one ever lives happily ever after even at the end of a series of unfortunate events because often times other events will come along and cause more misery for you and those you care about.

A better phrase might be "And they lived happily for the time being" or perhaps "And they lived happily until a notorious villain came and burnt down one person's house and the other thought that they were dead so they chose to marry another individual who had been vying for her affections for quite some time and now she was truly happy and ready to go on a cruise not realizing that this trip would cause her to be stranded on an island for many years to come" but both of these phrases although realistic don't sound quite as wonderful as the one I mentioned at the outset of this story, but that is because usually the phrase "And they lived happily ever after" means that the fictional story has come to a close because the princess has kissed some amphibious creature or because she guessed the name of a funny little man correctly in order to save her firstborn child, but sadly this phrase can't be used in real life situations because in real life the story never comes to an end, unless of course you happen to die; and therefore at no point can it be said that the characters you are writing about lived happily ever after.

The reason, my dear reader; that I am starting this fifth unfortunate tale of the Baudelaires with this often used phrase is because whenever Violet, Sunny, Klaus and Beatrice leapt from the caboose of the In-Finite Express and rolled down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down and well, they rolled quite a distance; into a forest that the rickety train had been traveling thru and they dusted off their clothes and watched Mister Dominic fade into the distance and then turned to the mysterious cloaked figure who had rescued them and had been assisting them during their jarring journey, a phrase which here means "The policy of the In-Finite Express hadn't turned out to be accurate whatsoever and I'm sure if you read the previous volume of this woeful chronicle than you are aware of all the frightening things that the Baudelaires had to handle while onboard the trudging train" and discovered that this cloaked individual was in fact their good friend Quigley Quagmire than the Baudelaires felt for once that they were happy.

This is not to say that they lived happily ever after though, for as I have already explained their story doesn't end here in the woods with Quigley, and even though I wish that it did and all five children ran off and never looked back; that is not how the story goes at all. After hugging their long lost friend and many tears, which for once were out of joy; their newfound comrade commented, "We should get to some shelter so that we can talk."

Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice eagerly followed Quigley into the deep dark forest that surrounded them on all sides and away from the noises of the train that was probably already derailing at this very moment. To this day it is unclear who survived the train and who didn't save for a few individuals that have shown up later quite alive, and the Baudelaires tried not to worry about everyone on board the carrier as they ran thru the woods and hoped that the warning that Klaus had given was more than enough for other people to choose to leap from the In-Finite Express before it met the point of no return.

Instead, the four siblings followed Quigley Quagmire thru the zigzagging woods until at last they arrived at a clearing that appeared to be a meadow. There in the center of the meadow stood an ancient structure that stood out among the dark and gloomy woods like a sore thumb.

The building was obviously a chapel of some sort, but it appeared that the steeple had fallen off and was lying on the front lawn where people used to enter and the front steps were overgrowing with the grass of the meadow, dandelions and sunflowers and marigolds were all around the aged cathedral and the entire construction was built out of emerald lumber much like the train that the children had just escaped from. Quigley stepped around the toppled steeple and opened the door for his friends and Klaus asked, "Was this a secret hideout of V.F.D.?" The dark haired, wide eyed seventeen year old nodded and explained, "That's right, Klaus. This is the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin, one of the earliest secret hiding places of V.F.D."

The middle Baudelaire nodded and entered the ancient structure and with each step his feet made, the sound echoed in the large empty room. It was filled with pews that were also made of the same emerald lumber as the rest of the chapel and to the front of the building were a speaker's podium and a large pipe organ that took up most of the west wall. As Quigley closed the door to the cathedral behind them, the Baudelaire orphans took a moment to sit on the front pews and regain their strength since they had been running for quite some time.

Taking off the cloak that he had been wearing, the seventeen year old passed it to Violet and explained, "Just in case… it gets chilly around here." "Have you been here before?" Sunny asked.

"No, but whenever I was living at the house of Dr. Montgomery, this place was on a map that was in his study and it was said to be off the beaten path from an abandoned horseradish factory. It was the last place on the map and everything below it was marked with the initials 'WW'," Quigley explained and then added, "In the notes that Monty made he claimed that there was always a draft here in the Cathedral because of the way that it had been built, so that's why I say it might get chilly."

"Yfitnedi," Beatrice commented which probably meant, "Aren't there more pressing matters that we need to discuss rather than this old building?" or perhaps, "Violet please pass me the blanket because I am already cold and tired from all of the running we've done lately." As the eldest Baudelaire passed the blanket to her adopted sister, Klaus nodded toward Quigley and said, "Yes, the last we heard from you Kit Snicket told us that you had found your brother and sister aboard Hector's Vertical Floatation Device."

"And then some of the eagles that the fire-starting side of V.F.D. had trained attacked you and caused you to plummet to the watery depths of the ocean," Sunny added. "We thought you were all gone forever," Violet said as she shed a few extra tears, still unable to come to terms with the fact that Quigley was here standing in front of them. "So much happened on that frightful day, sometimes I try not to think about it," Quigley said as he sighed and sat down in front of his friends and said, "So Kit managed to escape?" "Yes, that's right. She washed ashore on the coastal shelf of the island we had been stranded on," Sunny explained.

"But she didn't survive," Klaus said sadly and explained, "The island's facilitator released the Medusoid Mycelium and Kit died shortly after giving birth to her daughter." Quigley stared down at the youngest member of the Baudelaire family and remarked, "I thought you had Kit's eyes, she looks very much like her father though." "Dewey is dead too," Violet said sadly, "He was harpooned by Count Olaf outside of the Hotel Denouement."

The boy shook his head and said, "This is very terrible news. Mister Snicket won't be happy at all to hear that his sister is now dead as well and he is the last living Snicket triplet."

"Yrots?" Beatrice asked, which probably meant, "Who is that you are referencing, Quigley?" or perhaps, "Where have you been for the last year?"

The dark haired wide-eyed youth sighed again and replied, "So much has happened since the fateful day that I was reunited with my brother and sister and then just as quickly, separated from them again." "Take your time, Quigley," Violet told him as she held his hand firmly. The boy had a haunted look as if the details were forever etched in his mind and he proclaimed, "The V.F.D. eagles destroyed the Vertical Floatation Device that Hector had fashioned and all of us that didn't fall to the ocean got onboard Kit's Vaporetto of Floating Detritus… Isadora, Duncan, Captain Widdershins and his stepdaughter clung to it for dear life as we endured a terrible storm and then saw in the shadows a large black figure rising from the water. I lost my grip on my sister's hand…"

Quigley paused to shed a few tears and then recomposed himself and proclaimed, "It looked like a whirlpool was sucking them into its maw, and Kit yelled out something as I was separated from her, both Duncan and I were trying to rescue Isadora; but by that time he too had been swept up in the whirlpool along with Hector and Captain Widdershins and his two stepchildren." "What happened after that?" Klaus asked.

"I yelled out to Kit, thinking that she had asked me something important but I never saw her again; I became trapped in the whirlpool as well and just as I thought that I would go under the sensation stopped. Some of the Vaporetto of Floating Detritus had already fallen apart and so I clung to it and tried to spot Kit somewhere in the water; but after a day of clinging to the books that had saved my life I knew that I had lost track of her," Quigley explained.

"It is odd that you didn't wash ashore on the coastal shelf like Kit," Sunny commented. "I probably would have, had not I been rescued first. The second day I was out to sea a boat came across me and I heard a girl's voice shout out. I was half conscious whenever they found me and couldn't move most of my body. The girl identified herself as Friday and told me to eat an apple she had just received from a rather large sea snake," he answered.

"The Incredibly Deadly Viper!" Klaus said in excitement. "Yes that's what I figured as well whenever she told me, so I chopped on the apple and then slipped into unconsciousness. Whenever I woke up, I remember that I was on a beach somewhere but the people who had rescued me were already gone," Quigley stated. "Ishmael and the other islanders must've abandoned you," Violet realized.

"Or maybe they died from the Medusoid Mycelium," Klaus suggested. "I don't know, I never even knew who they were until you just told me," the seventeen year old stated and then outside of the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin, the five children heard the sound of an approaching storm and Quigley asked, "So you have been on the island this entire time?"

"Well not the entire time," Klaus answered, and the oldest orphan explained, "We chose to leave some time ago, to find out more about the world and then became members of V.F.D." "Ymene," Beatrice added, which probably met "And we've had trouble ever since because of Mister Dominic" or perhaps, "I am so glad that we are far away from Mister Dominic now."

"How did you come to be onboard that train?" Quigley asked. "We were going to ask you the same thing," Violet admitted. "We were given tickets by Doctor Sebald and told to head to the rendezvous, but we have no idea where that is," Klaus admitted. "And a man named Lemony supposedly bought the tickets for us," Sunny stated. "So then you met him?" Quigley asked eagerly. The Baudelaires exchanged glances and then answered, "Until recently we thought he was dead."

Violet pulled out from her pocket the quickly scrawled note that one of the members of Count Olaf's troupe had given her at the Ned H. Rirger Theater and explained, "The powder-faced woman gave us this." The note simply said:

**Find Lemony**

And then Quigley said, "So then some of Count Olaf's troupe were spies for V.F.D."

"I guess," Sunny said and then added, "Most of them are dead now because of Mister Dominic's villainous treachery." "How much do you know about him?" the middle Baudelaire wondered. The dark haired wide-eyed boy shrugged and said, "About as much as you do, I'm afraid. Mister Snicket never enjoyed talking about him. He said it was too sobering to reflect on something that could've been handled differently."

"How did you meet Mister Snicket?" Sunny asked. "I'm sorry, I failed to tell you the rest of my story; didn't I?" Quigley admitted and then yawned and said, "But it is getting rather late. Why don't we all rest and we can talk more in the morning?" Violet, Klaus, Beatrice and Sunny had forgotten entirely about what hour it was ever since they had escaped the In-Finite Express and met up with their long lost friend and even though none of the orphans realized it; they now saw that Quigley was right and that night was approaching. Beatrice yawned in agreement and said something which Sunny translated to say, "We could really use a break from the action anyway."

Violet covered herself and her adopted sister with the cloak that Quigley had been wearing as the seventeen year old boy went to the pipe organ and opened up a small trap door underneath the humongous musical instrument. Pulling out other blankets, Quigley Quagmire passed them to Klaus and to Sunny and then said, "We should take this opportunity to gather our strength, because tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

All of the Baudelaires were too tired and sleepy to argue any further about hearing the whole story and so each of them found a place to sleep on the pews in the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin and Quigley slept near the podium as the rain continued to pour down and down onto the structure and its noise echoed thru the emerald lumber, lulling all five children into slumber.

And for once the Baudelaires did receive a good amount of sleep, away from dangerous villains such as the ones who were probably already leaping from the In-Finite Express and away from the mysteries that had plagued them since they'd left the island and away from all of their problems altogether for one single night. If there was ever a chapter in the history of the Baudelaire's unfortunate lives that I would recommend reading, and even that in itself is a stretch of the imagination; I would tell you to read this one and to go no further because the very next morning things would not turn out all right for anyone in the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin.

Quigley was the first to awaken and roused the Baudelaires and once all five children were fully awake, Sunny commented, "Does this place have a kitchen?" "I'm afraid not, but don't worry; we'll be leaving shortly and hopefully finding some food," the seventeen year old answered. Violet yawned and rubbed her eyes as she stretched and commented, "Where are we going?"

"I think first we need to tell each other the rest of our stories," Klaus decided and then added, "We still don't know much about where Quigley has been and he doesn't know anything about our time at the Very Fine Dwelling, the Ned H. Rirger Theater or the Anxious Clown diner."

"Mister Snicket said he took you to Mister Poe some time ago and hoped that you had met some of the good members of V.F.D. who are already headed to the rendezvous," Quigley agreed and then stated, "But that is the future, and you were asking me about the past. Where was I?"

"You were going to tell us how you came to be onboard the In-Finite Express," Sunny told him. The haunted youth nodded as he recalled the details and said, "Whenever I woke up on that shore I immediately realized it was Briny Beach and for a moment I considered my options. I could try to build another boat and rescue my siblings, or stay on the mainland and hope that they could escape their terrible situation. But as I was trying to come to a decision, a taxi drove up to the beach and a man found me," Quigley explained and then added, "He told me to stop crying and that if I came with him I could save my family as well as the Baudelaires."

"Lemony?" Klaus guessed.

"He never told me his name as we drove out of the city limits and told me that the only reason he had stayed in the city was because he had learned thru telegrams that there had been an unfortunate event at sea. I wanted to ask him more, but he grew more troubled as we drove along and told me that he was already late enough," Quigley answered and then added, "We arrived at Lake Lachrymose where he opened the trunk of his cab and a woman got out and complained about how cramped it was and then I was told to wait in the car as the two of them talked in the Anxious Clown. Whenever he left the diner he put up a sign on the window telling everyone who saw it that it was for sale."

"I wonder if the woman was Sally Sebald?" Klaus asked. "I tried to ask him, but before I got the chance he invited me to be his assistant at the office he had recently purchased downtown and explained that if we were to prevent further wickedness in this world; that much investigating would need to be done," Quigley answered.

"So what happened then?" Violet asked. "We went to the office he had rented downtown and he said farewell and told me that he would keep in touch with me, and then drove off. That was quite some time ago; and I've not seen him since… although he has sent me several telegrams and other messages all in code," the dark haired wide-eyed boy answered. "So you've been helping him all of this time? What have you uncovered?" Klaus asked in anticipation.

"I spent the first few months trying to find clues as to what had happened to you and to my family and to Kit and the others, but sadly found nothing but misleading articles in _The Daily Punctilio_ and I had been considering giving up entirely whenever Mister Snicket contacted me for the last time about a month ago, and informed me that he had finally made contact with you," Quigley answered.

The Baudelaires looked at one another in confusion and Violet remarked, "But we haven't met him."

"He didn't make it clear in his note whether or not he'd properly identified himself, but told me that he and the Duchess were planning a masquerade ball for the organization and that I needed to board the In-Finite Express as soon as possible, where he and other members of our group would join me. I had hoped to find you as well as Isadora and Duncan, but I guess instead we found Mister Dominic and those ghastly instructors from the Prufrock Preparatory School," Quigley answered.

"So you've been traveling and then spotted us onboard the train," Violet said with a nod. "I wish I could've gotten a chance to reveal myself, then maybe Mister Dominic wouldn't have gotten a chance to derail the train," Quigley Quagmire lamented. "Your maps were a good clue to help us," Klaus stated and then added, "Although the first one led us straight to Mister Dominic."

"I had hoped to meet you in the Lounge, but that villain got there first… and the second map I had hoped to meet you in the Restaurant but you'd met up with Thursday first," Quigley explained.

"You must've been wearing this cloak the entire time while you were on the train, and that's why we couldn't spot you," Sunny realized. "It was the only solution I could come up with so that our enemies didn't spot me either," Quigley answered and then sighed and said, "But what matters the most is that we have reunited."

Klaus had been listening thoughtfully to everything that their friend had told them and finally proclaimed, "So Mister Snicket is the one that is orchestrating this rendezvous, along with a Duchess?" "Mister Dominic mentioned a Duchess onboard the train," Sunny recalled.

"My research has told me that it is the Duchess of Winnipeg, who is a very close friend to the Snickets," Quigley answered. "I've never heard of her before," Violet admitted. "Don't worry, you'll get a chance to meet her personally very soon; because that is precisely where we are headed to! The Winnipeg Estate!" the seventeen year old boy exclaimed. "How will we get there before our enemies do?" Klaus asked.

"We don't even know where we are!" Sunny realized. "Then it is a good thing that we have a cartographer with us," Violet said with a slight smile toward Quigley. Quigley nodded and then explained, "I know precisely where we are, we're near to where I once lived."

"I wish we'd gotten a chance to visit the Quagmire mansion before it burned down," Sunny proclaimed. "It's not too far from where we are, but there is nothing but broken windows and broken hearts to be found there," Quigley said sadly and then proclaimed, "No we need to head due south."

"Where will we be heading to?" Klaus asked as he picked up Beatrice and the group left the chapel.

"According to the map I have of the Winnipeg Wastelands, if we head due south…" Quigley paused to check the direction of the sun and then answered, "We'll wind up at the sapphire mines my family owns."

**_Impressed? What further secrets will the Baudelaires unearth? Find out soon! Read and review please!  
><em>**


	3. Chapter Two

Two

If you ever trek out into the woods in the middle of the day it is my recommendation that you bring along with you a compass, just in case you get lost; a supply of food, just in case you get hungry and a flashlight, just in case it gets dark before you head home. If you didn't have a compass and then you found yourself in the middle of a winding portion of the woods that you were exploring, you could easily become disoriented and not be sure which way was north and which way was east especially whenever the trees blocked out the sun and you weren't sure if it was night or day.

And if you didn't have a supply of food and you traveled thru the woods and then realized that you were quite hungry, then your adventure would have to be cut short because you needed to return to your home and get a quick bite to eat before you traveled out again, this time hopefully with the necessary supplies.

And if you didn't have a flashlight and you stayed out in the woods for too long and it grew terribly dark then it wouldn't matter if you did have a supply of food or a compass because in the dark it would be impossible to see where you were going or what you were eating and thus defeat the purpose of having either of those two items. So whenever you do choose to take a trip thru the hillside perhaps on a camping expedition, something that is certainly more enjoyable than reading about the Baudelaires and Quigley Quagmire and their journey thru the winding woods; you should definitely take with you all three of these things so that you don't become lost, hungry or in the dark.

The Baudelaire orphans did not have a compass, a flashlight or a supply of food whenever they left the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin the next morning, and they trekked across the wet meadow into the dark and dreary woods that surrounded it, and the children never felt more lost, hungry or in the dark then they were right then.

They had managed to join up with their good friend Quigley Quagmire who had had a growth spurt and his voice had changed since the last time they'd met up with him atop Mt. Fraught, but they still had a long ways to go and were no closer to living happily ever after whatsoever.

They were lost quite literally because Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice had never journeyed to the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin before and they had certainly never trekked thru the woods before and they were hungry because Quigley hadn't brought any food or any supplies at all for that matter because they'd all just leapt from the In-Finite Express the previous night and all of the Baudelaire orphans were in the dark because even though Quigley had been assisting the man that the Baudelaires knew as Lemony Snicket, they still had no idea why this man had been following them or what he or their adversary Mister Dominic was after.

So even if they did have a compass, it probably wouldn't have helped them at all since none of the Baudelaires were familiar with the area and even if they'd had one and they would probably remain hungry for quite some time even if the seventeen year old had brought a supply of food and I'm absolutely positive that the orphans will stay in the dark for quite some time, even though they have now been reunited with Quigley Quagmire; who Violet was very fond of.

"I think we're getting close to the edge of the forest," Quigley proclaimed as he took the eldest Baudelaire's hand and Klaus frowned at this, wishing that the two of them would stop flirting and that they would all spend time on things that mattered more, such as finding the sapphire mines that Quigley had spoken of and getting to the Winnipeg Estate. Just then, Sunny spotted a clearing and their newfound comrade stated, "I was right, I think we're almost there!"

Grasping Violet's hand more firmly, the two orphans rushed to the clearing and all five of them soon cleared the woods and stood on the grassy knoll. Not too far in the distance, the children heard a sound that sounded like a loud foghorn blaring across the landscape and Quigley frowned upon hearing it and then together both he and the Baudelaires went over the next few hilltops until at last they came to one that was overlooking a large encampment.

It seemed to cover the entirety of the landscape that they were surveying, and looked like a large bowl shaped canyon. The rocks that were in the canyon were orange hued in nature and went up for quite some distance and Sunny couldn't even make out the top of the canyon because the sun obscured her view. Klaus was trying to see how far the wide expanse stretched in each direction, but couldn't see for certain because of the shimmering heat on the sand which filled the entire area.

Violet and Quigley saw there in the massive encampment that there was a lot of machinery moving about, there was a large crane that had a wrecking ball attached to it and a bulldozer that was shoveling sand out of the way and a dump truck that was driving across a path that had been made and a mixer that was mixing cement and other construction equipment that they couldn't properly identify because of the distance between them and the canyon and there were several tents and other buildings that had built on site as workers moved around the equipment and seemed to entering a shaft of some sort on the north side of the canyon.

"What is going on here?" Quigley commented in surprise, although none of the Baudelaires were sure how to answer his inquiry, especially since they had no idea what was going on here or anywhere else in the world for that matter, seeing as they had been on an island for the past year and only recently had departed it and then faced unfortunate events thanks to encountering a vile man named Mister Dominic.

But truthfully, Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice didn't know what was going on here or anywhere else for that matter.

But of course their good friend Quigley Quagmire wasn't asking about what was going on in the world in general, but more specifically what was going on at the location they had just discovered. Klaus stated, "It looks like they are excavating that mine there." "But this isn't right!" Quigley declared and then explained to his friends, "This is the Quagmire Quarry, it belongs to my family!"

"Apparently they don't know that," Violet told him.

"Or they don't care," Sunny added.

"Maybe we should go and investigate this?" Klaus suggested.

"We'll need to be careful," Violet advised them as she and Quigley continued to watch the construction contraptions carry out duties and then explained, "We don't know who owns this excavating group." "I'd very much like to find out who is digging up the quarry, because it belongs to my family!" the seventeen year old boy stated. "All right then, let's get down there and figure out what is going on here," Sunny decided.

Klaus kept hold of Beatrice as the five children walked down the hillside toward the loud noise that seemed to rattle the very canyon itself. Quigley and Violet took the lead as they came closer to the edge of the grass, and then it seemed that the grass stopped suddenly and the sand that covered the entire quarry began. As they came closer to the strange site that they had seen from above, they spotted a barbed wire fence with a large booth to the right side of it and a long pole that extended from the booth, which was painted red and white and the Baudelaires and Quigley realized that it was a gate allowing entrance to the sandy quarry beyond.

Just then there was a loud noise and the five children turned around and saw a dump truck was moving toward them and Quigley stated, "Out of the way or he'll run us over!"

Violet and her younger siblings didn't have to be told twice to get out of the way of the truck and quickly moved to the left side of the path behind a large orange rock and watched as the truck approached the gate.

The person inside the booth was talking to the driver and whoever the driver was passed some papers to the attendant and then the gate opened up and the dump truck drove inside. Once it was on the other side of the fence, the white and red pole that was extended from the booth fell back into place, blocking passage for anyone except someone that had official papers such as the one that the attendant had apparently just received.

"We'll never get inside without some type of documentation," Klaus realized.

"Is there any other way into the quarry?" Sunny wondered as she glanced at the steep jagged rocks on either side of them and asked, "Do you suppose we can climb over the fence?" "Truh!" Beatrice commented, which probably meant, "I'm too young to attempt something that dangerous!" or perhaps, "Can't you see there is barbed wire at the top of that fence? I don't want to fall on top of it!"

"Beatrice is right, it's too risky to try and climb over," Violet agreed and then added, "Besides I'm sure someone would spot us if we tried that." "Well we certainly don't have the proper documents to show to the guard," Quigley commented and then remarked, "But maybe we can stow away on one of those trucks?" "But we don't know when the next one will be passing thru," Klaus pointed out.

"And I am rather hungry," Sunny remarked.

"I'm sorry Sunny, I had thought that this quarry might have volunteers working here so that we could all get a quick meal before we went to the Winnipeg Estate. But I wasn't expecting to see all of this construction equipment here," Quigley admitted.

"It's not your fault," Violet pointed out, and then added, "Let's follow this road and see where it goes to."

The five children rose from their hiding spot behind the large rock and trekked away from the quarry down the dirt path that was edging up against the grassy knoll that had just left. As they moved further down the road, they soon found they were walking uphill and Sunny commented, "I think this goes back the way we came." Quigley nodded and breathed deeply, taking a few seconds to recover and then stating, "This is probably connected to Lousy Lane. I wish I had brought a compass with me. It is hard to get my bearings in a place like this."

"I think I hear another dump truck approaching," Klaus said and sure enough up ahead of them at the top of the hill they spotted the vehicle and Violet stated, "Whenever it arrives in front of the gate and stops, we can jump onto the back of it."

"Agreed," Quigley stated and then the five children quickly ran back down the road to their hiding spot just in time before the truck managed to get there. The large construction vehicle came to a halt and Sunny said, "Now is our chance!"

The five orphans quickly went to the back of the vehicle and Quigley climbed onto the bumper and then assisted Violet up and Violet lifted Sunny and Beatrice up and finally Klaus. Once they were all on the truck, Quigley climbed into the bed of the vehicle which had been filled with sand and assisted his friends so that they could hide from the guard. Just then the driver of the dump truck started up his engine again and they heard the red and white barrier lift up. The Baudelaires and their companion remained still as the truck drove thru the barbed wire fence and then Violet commented, "I think we're safe now."

"Let's wait for the truck to stop before we climb out," Klaus advised his siblings. All around them, they could hear the loud sound of workers moving equipment around and the bulldozer pushing sand out of the way and the sharpening of saws and the clanging of iron against iron and the shoveling of sand and the shouts of workers yelling over the other noises to each other. Finally it seemed that the dump truck had come to a complete stop and Quigley commented, "All right, let's get out of here and look around."

Before the others had a chance to do as he had suggested however, a low beep was heard from the front of the truck, and Violet, Klaus, Quigley, Sunny and Beatrice all heard the sound of something shifting underneath them.

"Uh oh," Sunny said in realization as to what was happening and then before anybody could get a chance to climb out the bin that they were in began to tilt backwards and the back of the dump truck opened up and I'm sad to say that all of the orphans cried in alarm as they fell out onto a pile of sand and then the sand within the dump truck covered them entirely.

The Baudelaires and Quigley Quagmire scrambled out of the sand, coughing and spitting sand out of their mouths and frantically brushing sand out of their hair and shaking sand out of their shoes and even Beatrice was crying uncontrollably at the fact that she was now completely dirty and lamented, "Niaga!" which probably meant, "I just jumped from the back of a train and now I'm being covered in sand!" or perhaps, "I hate sand!"

Klaus' glasses had been completely covered in the material and Sunny was busily trying to clean her sharp teeth and her tongue and Quigley was trying to shake off his clothes, but only Violet had finally stopped moving and was staring at the side of the truck which they had been hiding in.

On the side of the vehicle in large bold black letters were three letters that the eldest Baudelaire was quite familiar with and whenever the other orphans stopped shaking sand off of themselves, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice saw that their sister was staring at the initials ERT which were emboldened on the side of the dump truck.

"ERT?" Quigley commented as he read the letters on the side of the vehicle as well and then commented, "What does that stand for?"

Violet, Klaus, Beatrice and Sunny felt a little embarrassed because they really had hoped that their newfound ally would know what the mysterious initials stand for, but now came to find out that apparently the tall dark haired wide-eyed boy whom Violet was particularly fond of hadn't heard of this mysterious group.

"We don't really know," Sunny admitted and then explained, "When we were at the Ned H. Rirger Theater we received an invitation to a gala party by the group."

"Really?" Quigley asked in surprise and then wondered, "Do you have that invitation with you?" Klaus pulled it out of his sand-filled pocket and brushed the sand off of the invitation and then showed it to Quigley. "Why this is the Duchess' handwriting!" he exclaimed.

"What's that?" Sunny asked in surprise to which Quigley Quagmire explained, "While I was working at the downtown office that Mister Snicket had bought he had several documents that were written by the Duchess of Winnipeg, apparently they liked to stay in touch with one another. I'm positive that this is her!" "So then you're saying that the rendezvous isn't for V.F.D. but for ERT?" Violet guessed.

"I'm afraid I've never heard of those initials until you pointed them out on the side of the dump truck," Quigley admitted and then before they could discuss the matter further, the driver of the dump truck walked around and spotted them and declared, "My goodness! How did you children get in here?"

The five orphans had been so caught up in talking about the mysterious initials emboldened on the side of the dump truck and shaking sand off of themselves that they hadn't thought to move to a safer location to do this and so now were caught and weren't sure what to say to the worker.

"Are you new workers?" he asked and then added, "I understood that very soon we were supposed to be getting some, but I never suspected that they would be children." "Yes, that's right; we came in early this morning," Quigley replied and then added, "And I'm seventeen so I am certainly not a child."

"Well if you're workers, than where are your hardhats?" the man asked. Violet, Sunny, Quigley, Beatrice and Klaus didn't respond immediately and then the worker commented, "You must not have gone to the main office to get them yet. Are you lost?"

"That's right, and hungry," Sunny replied.

"kradehtni," Beatrice added, which meant, "We're very confused about a lot of matters" or perhaps, "Could you direct us as to where the main office is?"

"My sibling was wondering if you tell us where to obtain these hardhats?" Violet explained. "The main office is up that flight of stairs, we built it in a cache of the canyon," the worker explained and then added, "I'll take you there." The five orphans got out of the sand pit and followed the man wearing the hardhat, while shaking sand out of their shoes the entire way; and then began to climb up the metal scaffolding that was built into the side of the canyon wall.

At the top of the flight of stairs was a small rectangular building that jutted out from the canyon and seemed a tad lopsided as if it wasn't built properly and the man knocked on the door to the office and from within a voice boomed, "What is it?"

Violet and Klaus and Sunny thought that the voice sounded rather familiar and as the worker opened the door they soon realized why. "We have some new workers, sir," the man explained and this wasn't because he was being polite; but more to the point because the Baudelaires knew that the worker couldn't pronounce the man's name correctly.

He was short, shorter than Klaus and wearing the same dark green suit he'd worn the last time the children had seen him and as always his head was completely covered with smoke due to the fact that he was smoking a cigar and so his face couldn't be seen clearly, but the Baudelaires knew exactly who it was as I'm sure you do if you've ever encountered this gruesome man and tried to pronounce his name and then you'd know that it was Sir whenever he said, "Of course they are, I'm not an idiot!"


	4. Chapter Three

**Three**

There are many cases in our lives where a phrase comes in handy that is actually one that we don't enjoy saying even though it fits the occasion perfectly.

That phrase is "here we go again" and it usually is said whenever you are experiencing a situation that is rather disappointing and also similar to one you dealt with before, hence the need for you to state how similar it is to the previous situation because you feel that you are going to actually be reliving the exact same things or perhaps it feels like you are because the outcome is the same.

For example, once my sister fell in love with someone that she shouldn't have and that broke her heart and she sobbed for many, many months refusing to accept the fact that he had turned to a life of villainy and evil doing.

But later that same year she met a man and then they decided to get married and I couldn't help but say the phrase "Here we go again" feeling that this relationship would be just as ill-fated as the previous one.

Not that I felt that my sister had a bad choice in choosing bachelors, but that I wasn't aware that the triplet she was dating was actually a triplet and not a twin because I had been misinformed; so whenever I said "Here we go again" I was sure that it would wind up just like it did with the man who later saved her life although I didn't know this for many years to come either. But I wish that I hadn't said this phrase to my dear beloved sister, because it didn't turn out the exact same way and maybe if I hadn't said "Here we go again" then maybe my father wouldn't have opposed their marriage and maybe Dewey wouldn't have had to go into hiding and perhaps Kit would still be alive rather than dead and I would be happy again.

But sadly I will never be able to take back those words, just as Violet will never be able to take back the words she said whenever her and her siblings along with Quigley Quagmire, of whom Violet was especially fond; and saw sitting there across from them was the man for whom the Baudelaires had worked for during their stay at Paltryville whom no one could correctly pronounce his name and so therefore simply called Sir.

"Here we go again," Violet muttered softly in disbelief at seeing this mysterious foreman of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill here at the Quagmire Quarry and then the short man stood up from where he was sitting and remarked, "Well, well, well; what do we have here?"

Klaus and his sisters had been hoping that the man whose face was obscured by a cloud of cigar smoke wouldn't recognize them but any chance of that happening faded away whenever Sir stated, "If it isn't the Baudelaires! And… who are you?"

"I'm Quigley Quagmire," Quigley said bravely and then added, "This quarry belongs to my family! Who do you think you are?" Sir turned toward him and remarked, "I don't know anything about previous ownership, but I'm afraid you're wrong! I'm not an idiot! The papers I signed make me the new owner!" "Just because you signed papers doesn't mean you own anything," Klaus pointed out.

"I didn't ask you, did I orphan?" Sir countered and then added, "What do you think you three are doing here anyway?"

"We were about to ask you the same thing," Sunny replied, choosing not to point out that the man whose face was obscured by a cloud of smoke had overlooked Beatrice, their adopted sister; and then to the left the door to the other portion of the office opened and Sir's partner walked in.

The Baudelaires had also not seen this man for about a year, but Charles looked absolutely no different then whenever the children had been fleeing the Hotel Denouement with Count Olaf. He was wearing a bright blue vest and had the same straight hair and seemed just as shocked to see them as Sir had been. Dropping the papers he'd been holding, Charles couldn't help himself and exclaimed, "Baudelaires! I'm so glad to see you alive! I had thought at the Hotel Denouement that you hadn't survived the fire!"

"Shut up you idiot!" Sir snarled and then added, "Don't tell them anything! They may have been responsible for the arson that nearly trapped us inside!"

"But they are just children," Charles said uncertainly and then added, "I don't think any of them are capable of arson."

Sunny, Klaus, Violet, and Beatrice all kept quiet at this comment; not wanting to reveal that they had actually assisted Count Olaf in the burning of the splendid structure, whereas Quigley was still defiantly staring at Sir and said, "I'd like to know where these documents are! I want to have a look at them!" "Do you think I'd show them to you? I'm not an idiot!" Sir declared.

"I thought that these were new workers," the worker who brought the orphans there proclaimed defensively.

"Sir, I think it is a marvelous idea to have them stay here!" Charles replied. "I said be quiet, you idiot! They may be trying to shut down our operation just like they did at Lucky Smells Lumbermill!" Sir muttered as he continued to puff his cigar and his head and face became more and more obscured by smoke. "We didn't know that the Lumbermill had shut down," Klaus said in their defense.

"We haven't ever returned to Paltryville," Violet added. "Until recently we haven't seen many people that we knew," Sunny stated.

"Well it so happens that I lost ownership of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill! Because of you meddling orphans! And from what I understand it recently was burned to the ground! More arson! For all I know, it could've been you Baudelaires! I'm not an idiot!" Sir stated indignantly.

"But they are just children, and they weren't anywhere near to Paltryville whenever we lost our jobs," Charles stated defensively and then added, "Besides which, neither were we!"

"Of course I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Sir muttered and then added, "But they don't know that! I told you not to tell them anything!"

"I don't really want to waste my time arguing," Quigley Quagmire said with a sigh and then added, "I suppose we could be workers for you, Sir." Violet and the other Baudelaires looked at their companion in surprise and the eldest asked in a whisper, "Quigley, what're you doing?"

"It seems pointless to reason with him, so we'll just have to cooperate until we find out what is going on here," he whispered back and then firmly grasped her hand and she nodded back, signaling that both she and her siblings trusted him just as much now as did whenever they'd been climbing Mt. Fraught or whenever they'd received a telegram from him onboard the _Queequeg_ or more recently whenever they leapt from the final car of the In-Finite Express away from Mister Dominic.

"I think it would be all right for the children to stay here," Charles repeated and then added, "Many hands make a light load."

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Sir added angrily and then remarked, "But I don't want anything to do with them! We're behind schedule as it is already!" Without another word, the man whose face was obscured by cigar smoke stormed into the other office and Charles sighed and admitted, "He is right about that." Then he led the children back down the stairs and said, "Come along, I'll show you where you'll be staying."

Sunny looked up at the man in the blue suit and commented, "But I thought Sir said that we can't stay here."

"It's true that he did say that, but I can't simply turn the other cheek like I did before! I'm so glad that you're here, Baudelaires!" Charles replied with a smile as they walked across the quarry once more and the loud sound of the equipment roared around them. "How did you come to work here?" Violet asked. "Well there is a funny story behind that, you see; whenever we escaped the Hotel Denouement…"

Charles began and then the foghorn that the five children had heard earlier blasted out again and all of them had to cover their ears as they walked past it. "…so that is why we are working here now," Charles explained.

"But how did you manage to escape the blaze of the Hotel Denouement?" Klaus asked, choosing to ignore that they hadn't heard his answer to their previous question. "Well there is a funny story behind that as well; you see whenever Sir and I were at the mock trial; we heard…"

Charles began again and then the loud noise of the bulldozer roared above them as they walked past the large entrance to the sapphire mines and none of them were able to hear what Charles said at all. "…and that is how we escaped," the man explained as they arrived at the south side of the encampment where several tents were at and he stated, "But there is so much I have to ask you five! How did you manage to escape the blaze?"

"None of that matters right now," Quigley stated, getting to the heart of the issue by stating, "I'd like to know why it is that Sir thinks he owns this sapphire mine." "I'm sorry, I don't think I've met you before. Are you a Baudelaire as well?" Charles asked, apparently just now noticing Quigley.

"Oh no, he's not related to us. He is our close friend," Klaus answered. "I'm Quigley Quagmire," the dark haired wide-eyed triplet explained. Charles gasped in surprise and then muttered, "I thought all of the Quagmires died in that ghastly fire ages ago." "Well, my parents did," Quigley admitted and then added, "But I'm still alive, and I'm positive my brother and sister are too."

"Hmm," Charles said as if he was considering something as they entered the tent and then muttered, "I suppose that explains how it is that Sir was able to purchase this sapphire mine so easily. The realtors who sold it to us explained that the previous owners were deceased, and to an extent; they are right. You're not eighteen yet are you?"

"Well no," Quigley admitted, to which Charles stated, "Then since no one has owned this mine for a year Sir rightfully owns it." "But that isn't fair to Quigley or his brother or sister," Violet objected.

"If they don't own this mine, then that means they won't have any inheritance at all!" Klaus pointed out. "And Quigley will be eighteen soon," Sunny stated. "I know it isn't fair," Charles admitted and then added, "But I assure you that Sir's intentions are good ones."

"How do you know that?" Sunny asked their old comrade as they sat down on the beds inside the small tent. "Well ever since we've gotten here, Sir has insisted that our first priority is to find something inside the mines. He says that is very vital to the next step of our operation," Charles stated.

"What are you looking for?" Klaus wondered. "I don't really know," the man admitted as he scratched his head thoughtfully and added, "But I do know that we have yet to excavate any sapphires out of the mine."

"I suppose that is good news," Quigley admitted and then asked, "Is there any way we can help with the excavation?"

"Well first I need to get you some hard hats, and really you're not even supposed to be here," Charles admitted and then added, "Let me talk things over with Sir, I'm sure he'll understand once I explain that you are a member of the Quagmire family."

Violet was about to point out that they had already told Sir this, but the man whose face was obscured by a cloud of cigar smoke hadn't cared less; however Charles left them there in the tent and Klaus remarked, "How very odd to see those two again!"

"I wish we had heard how that they escaped the Hotel Denouement," Sunny stated.

"Or what they're after here in this quarry," Quigley said thoughtfully and added, "If I could get to the mines, it wouldn't take long for me to map them out, and maybe figure out what Sir is looking for."

"Do you suppose Charles is right and Sir is actually on our side now?" Klaus wondered. "It certainly doesn't seem like he is," Sunny pointed out and then added, "Once again it seems like we only have part of the story."

"Yadkeew," Beatrice said, which probably meant "This is exactly like what happened whenever we were onboard the train and met up with Thursday" or perhaps, "It seems like we always only get part of the story!"

"Quigley, what do you think we should do?" the eldest Baudelaire asked the silent cartographer who had been sitting on the edge of one bed.

"It looks like we can't head to the Winnipeg Estate just yet. I'm sorry. Violet, Klaus, Sunny… and Beatrice too, I need to find out what these men are after here in the mine, and whether or not it relates to the research that Mister Snicket was having me do," Quigley decided.

The four children looked at one another in confusion and Klaus commented, "You never did mention what it was that you were doing for him." "Well, he did say it was classified… but I'm sure it is safe to tell you," the seventeen year stated and then explained, "Lemony was searching for something that he called The Great Unknown. He said that he was positive all of the information he needed to bring our enemies to justice would be found there."

Violet and her younger siblings glanced at each other and Sunny stated, "Kit Snicket told us that it was The Great Unknown that attacked you and your siblings at sea."

"You mean that black shape that I described?" Quigley asked in surprise. "One and the same," Klaus said with a nod and then added, "When we were onboard the _Queequeg_, Captain Widdershins seemed to know what it was… but claimed that he preferred not to explain it."

"Lemony has never properly explained it to me either, but he said that my father and mother had done some research on it as well. I wish I had gotten to ask him further questions, but it is very hard to communicate with someone via a telegram or a carrier pigeon," Quigley Quagmire said with a sigh. "Could this quarry be somehow connected to their research?" Violet wondered.

"I don't see how that is possible, all that we know for certain about The Great Unknown is that it is unknown, and that it only appears at sea… and takes the shape of a question mark on any radar screen. Or at least on the _Queequeg_ that is what it appeared as," Klaus commented.

"That's why I feel we're going to have to postpone rendezvousing at the rendezvous and figure out what Sir and Charles are doing here," Quigley explained with a sigh and added, "I'm sorry, I know that you must be eager to meet the Duchess and Mister Snicket and the other noble volunteers who will be there and perhaps solve all of the problems that have faced your family… but I simply cannot pass up this opportunity to learn about my own past."

"It's all right, Quigley; we understand," Violet said with a smile.

"We'll help you anyway that we can," Sunny stated.

"What I could use right now is a good cooked meal," Klaus declared, and all of the children agreed with that thought.

"I wonder where the dining quarters are at?" Quigley commented as all five of them left the tent and gazed around at the machinery that was moving about. Sadly though, the five orphans didn't get a chance to go exploring or to even get a good cooked meal because at that very moment another usage of the phrase "here we go again" could easily be used whenever the Baudelaires saw that someone was entering the Quagmire Quarry and this someone was someone that they hadn't been expecting to see anytime soon.

Yes even Quigley froze where he stood as the wicked individual walked into the quarry and other workers did as well and then at the top of the flight of stairs, Sir came out and yelled something out that they couldn't hear because they were too far away.

But none of that mattered to the Baudelaires or to Quigley, because they had been focusing on their archenemy, Mister Dominic; who had just entered the sandy canyon and they all felt that it was time to say "here we go again" all over again.


	5. Chapter Four

_**Five**_

There is an old story that may or may not be true that relates to a dashing spider who tried very hard to convince a young fly maiden that he was a debonair fellow and not a dastardly spider and invited her to come into his parlor so that she could take a look around and see just what a gracious host he was.

The spider gave his victim a grand tour of the mansion which was his home and explained to her and everything that she saw could be hers if she choose to return at a later date and enjoy a meal with him. Now the fly maiden's friends and families told her that the spider was bad news and that he had courted many flies before her and yet none had returned or gone on honeymoons or sent postcards ever since they went to the mansion, and the fly maiden recalled this during the tour and pointed it out to her host.

"Why they've been having the best time here, that they never want to leave!" the spider had told her explaining how that since he entertained his guests constantly, they had no time for things such as returning, honeymoons, or postcards.

The young fly maiden forgot all about what her family and her friends had said and foolishly returned to the spider's parlor, where she met her ultimate demise and as sad as this story surely is; especially if you're the fly I'm afraid it is nowhere near as miserable and depressing as the Baudelaires.

The man who had just entered the Quagmire Quarry was not a spider, although at times he did act just as deviously as one; and it seemed so odd to see him here even though the children had suspected that Mister Dominic would escape the train before it crashed. But what made the unexpectedness of his arrival even more unexpected was whenever the door to Sir's office opened up and the short man wearing the dark green suit called out to the villain and the villain smiled and walked up the stairs to the office, greeting the short man as if they were old comrades.

"My word," one of the workers commented as they passed by the children. "I think he just pronounced his name!" another declared. Sunny, Beatrice, Klaus, Quigley and Violet weren't too concerned about the fact that Mister Dominic was pronouncing Sir's name correctly, even though that in itself was definitely a remarkable achievement; but were more curious as to why the wicked man that they'd escaped from onboard the emerald colored freight carrier was now alone. "What do you suppose he is up to now?" Klaus wondered. "More villainy I'm sure," Violet decided.

"Do you suppose he has the Medusoid Mycelium with him?" Sunny wondered fearfully.

"Or that some of his hench people are in this very quarry," Quigley said thoughtfully.

"Sir seemed to be expecting him!" the middle Baudelaire pointed out.

"Like they were old friends," Sunny added. "We should ask Charles about all of this," Violet decided and then turned to one of the workers and asked, "Excuse me sir, but where are the dining quarters?"

"You must be new here," the woman declared in a raspy voice as she coughed and then added, "There are no dining quarters! The boss simply pays us in gum and coupons!" "That's horrible," Quigley commented.

"He is horrible," another worker agreed.

"He is atrocious," another added. "He is an idiot!" another declared

. "That's exactly the same thing he did when he ran the Lucky Smells Lumbermill," Klaus recalled.

"I bet that's why it was shut down," Violet concluded.

"Well it certainly had nothing to do with you being there," Quigley agreed and then sighed and said, "I'm sorry, I thought that this place might be ran by noble volunteers who could supply us with warm beds and meals, but it looks like everything has been turned upside down."

The seventeen year old boy of whom Violet was particularly fond didn't literally mean that everything was upside down, because if everything really had been upside down then the Baudelaires and everyone else would fall up and not down due to gravity and things would be very upside down indeed, but rather the dark haired, wide-eyed boy was using a phrase that here means "Quigley had been expecting things to be better here at the quarry that his family once owned and was disappointed to find that they weren't." "So what do we do now?" Sunny wondered.

"It won't take long before Mister Dominic figures out that we are here," Violet decided and then turned to Quigley and said, "Let's go find Charles though, and ask him about all of this."

The seventeen year old nodded in agreement, and then the five children trekked across the sandy quarry toward Sir's office as the other workers resumed their duties. Another large dump truck was just entering the Quagmire Quarry, being run by the same driver whom they'd met moments earlier, and again the truck turned itself around and dumped sand into a large pile about the size of a house, which was laying up against the side of the canyon.

"That's odd," Klaus commented.

"What is it, Klaus?" Sunny asked as she cradled Beatrice, who had become rather sleepy and despite the noise was choosing to nap. "Why would they be bringing sand to this canyon rather than taking it away?" the middle Baudelaire wondered aloud as they reached the scaffolding and Quigley commented, "Now that you mention it, that is rather strange. They must be getting the sand from the Winnipeg Wastelands, which surround this area on almost all sides. But this canyon is also full of sand, so it seems pointless to bring sand here."

"Another mystery to figure out later," Violet conceded and then added, "I wonder if Mister Dominic will capture us once he realizes we're here."

"I don't think he could in this busy place," Sunny decided and then wrapped on the door softly.

"What is it? I'm in the middle of a very busy meeting!" Sir barked angrily. The door was opened by their archenemy, and much like the spider in the story that I previously mentioned at the outset of this story; the well dressed wicked man smiled at the five orphans and then gestured for them to enter and stated, "Come in, children. We were just talking about you."

Quigley held Violet's hand as they entered the office again and Klaus looked to see if Charles was in the other room, but sadly the assistant was nowhere to be found and Mister Dominic sat back down in the comfy chair, forcing Quigley and the Baudelaires to remain standing as the former foreman of Lucky Smells took another puff of his cigar and his head became more obscured by smoke and Sir muttered, "I thought I told you idiots to leave well enough alone!"

"We have no intentions of leaving," Quigley replied bravely and then added, "But Charles did explain to us you have the right to own and dig up this mine."

"Did he now?" Mister Dominic replied with a smirk and then asked, "Did he explain how that the previous owners are long gone?" "Yes, and although it isn't fair… it is legal," Violet admitted. "Well since that is settled, than you have no reason to be here!" Sir declared with a raspy cough. "Oh but we do," Quigley said with a smirk and then turned to their rival and explained, "I think I may be able to help with your excavation."

"Who are you?" Mister Dominic asked, glaring at the seventeen year old.

"I'm Quigley Quagmire," Quigley Quagmire explained and then added, "This sapphire mine once belonged to my family, so I know it better than anyone." The Baudelaire's nemesis gave a slight nod toward Quigley and then turned to Sir and conceded, "The boy has a point. It could speed up our operation." "Of course it would! I'm not an idiot! I was going to suggest that we hire him as worker," Sir stated, which had actually been Charles' idea and then added quickly, "As long as they agree to be paid only in coupons and bubblegum."

"That's fine," Quigley answered, and Klaus, Violet and Sunny all groaned softly; wishing that their friend hadn't made such a hasty decision. "Good, then you need to report to Babs; she'll give you your hard hats and tomorrow morning you can head to the mines!" Sir said with a laugh. "I look forward to mapping them," the Quagmire triplet proclaimed and then added, "Where will we be sleeping?"

"Babs will tell you that as well," Sir said waving his hand dismissively and then added, "Just be glad you're working with me! I'm the most reliable boss you will ever find!" The Baudelaires and their newfound ally knew all too well from the reports of the workers in the quarry that this was nowhere near the truth, but wisely chose to remain silent in front of Sir and their enemy.

"I believe that only accounts for one of the five children, my friend," Mister Dominic remarked and then added, "There is still the matter of the Baudelaires." "Bothersome Baudelaires," Sir agreed with another puff of his cigar and then stated, "That's your decision, Dominic. I need to get some sleep myself."

The short man shook his apparent partner's hand and then left the office without so much as a comment to the orphans. Mister Dominic waited patiently until he was certain they were alone and then commented, "It was quite brave of you to jump from the back of that train, Baudelaires."

"How did you manage to escape?" Klaus wondered.

"Where is Professor Edwick?" Violet wondered. "Or Vice Principal Nero?" Sunny added. "I'm surprised you're so concerned about your enemies, children; when you should really focus on your current predicament. I see that you've met an old friend," their archenemy commented, gazing at Quigley thoughtfully. "I would've preferred never meeting you," Quigley Quagmire replied.

"And I had thought all of the Quagmires were long gone, into the depths of the sea," Mister Dominic countered and then added, "I'm sure you have quite a story as to how you survived."

"One I won't be sharing with you," the dark haired, wide-eyed youth answered bravely. "You idiotic orphans seem to always be in my way, so I suppose it comes as no surprise that you'd wind up here. You must curious as to why I am here though," he said, looking toward Violet now.

"If you're going to suggest that we help you, you can forget it," the eldest Baudelaire commented. "I think I told you that would be a one time offer," Dominic declared with a sinister grin and then added, "But I am eager to make certain that none of you make it to the rendezvous."

"How do you know about that?" Quigley asked. "Why I was invited of course, by my friend the Duchess of Winnipeg," Mister Dominic answered. "She isn't your friend," Klaus commented.

"Well, I'm sure what she doesn't know, won't hurt her," the villainous man said with a sinister gleam in his eye and then declared, "But now we're truly mincing words, aren't we? Are you sure you're not the least bit curious as to why I'm here?"

"And you'll just tell us?" Klaus said as he rolled his eyes. "We may not be working together, but we have similar goals, I assure you of that, children. But since it is clear that you're not willing to listen, I'm not going to waste my breath," Mister Dominic as he stood up, adjusted the creases in his suit and then walked toward the door leading outside.

"Sir said that it was up to you what to do with us," Sunny commented. "Aren't you going to capture us?" Quigley asked in confusion.

"Not today, orphans," the dastardly villain said with a wink and then left them with so much more on their minds. Now, you may recall that at the outset of this chapter in the story of the spider and the fly that the spider made many offers to the young fly maiden, in hopes of eating her alive rather than wooing her and sadly the fly fell right into his trap, despite what she should've known all around.

And perhaps now this story makes more sense in relation to the Baudelaires and Quigley Quagmire and what the mysterious and malevolent Mister Dominic offered to them onboard the In-Finite Express and also the fact that he hadn't disposed of them yet here at the noisy quarry they found themselves in.

And much like the fly maiden in the tale I related to you, both Quigley and the Baudelaires knew that Mister Dominic was a dangerous and deceptive villain just as you or I know that cabinets cannot talk; but some part of them felt relieved whenever their enemy left them alone in Sir's office and some part of them thought that maybe this once that Mister Dominic was giving them a chance to stop him. It was foolish of course, for the children to think that they would ever defeat this wicked man and much like the spider and the fly; I must relate to you that the story you are now reading will end with treachery and death, and misery for those still living. But worst of all, the story of the Baudelaire orphans and Quigley Quagmire is much more depressing because this is not a fairy tale involving spiders or flies or any other assortment of insects but rather actual events that took place at the Quagmire Quarry before another very unfortunate event swept away the mine and the secrets it held. So once they were completely alone, Quigley and his friends took a quick breather and then Klaus commented, "We should look around this office for clues."

"That's snooping," Violet commented and then nodded and said, "But I agree that we need to look around."

Sunny carefully placed Beatrice onto the comfy chair where Mister Dominic had been previously sitting so that she could rest, and then alongside Quigley Quagmire and her siblings searched Sir's office for some idea as to why the mysterious former foreman of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill was here, and more importantly; how they could figure out what Mister Dominic was after.

Klaus walked into the other room where Charles' desk was and noted the locked file cabinets and then began to check and see if any of them might accidentally jar open, Sunny crawled under Sir's desk and found a box of cigars that he kept handy, along with plenty of bubblegum stuck to the underside of the desk; which by the way is very bad habit to ever get yourself into the habit of doing and even though other habits are probably far worse you must realize that those worse habits probably began as small bad habits such as sticking gum under a table or a chair or in this case a desk, so the next time you feel the urge to stop chewing the gum in your mouth because it is growing tiresome and tedious to do so; think of how that you'd be turning to more heinous crimes such as not finishing your homework or not eating your vegetables and then consider whether or not you really want to stick your gum under that chair or table or in this case a desk. Violet and Quigley looked on top of Sir's cluttered desk, and moved things around; occasionally hitting their hand against one another sometimes by accident and other times on purpose and then finally the seventeen year old came across a document that made him pause and he knew that he had found a clue.

"Look, it's the contract that Sir signed to obtain ownership of this quarry," Quigley proclaimed as he slid other papers out of the way and then his other friends stopped what they were doing to look at it as well. Quigley Quagmire turned the document around and then flipped it over so they could all read it together, and didn't get any farther than the top sentence; where in bold letters it read:

**QUAGMIRE**

**BAUDELAIRE**

**INC.**

And for once what Quigley had stated seemed all too true, and everything was upside down again.


	6. Chapter Five

_**Author's note: my bad i titled the last chapter five, but it was actually four. haha. hope i didn't cause confusion.  
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_**Five**_

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about a writer and how that is often difficult to avoid being involved in such things as plagiarism or copyright infringement or swordfights, and how if you've ever been involved in any of these you can escape, or perhaps write a sincere letter of apology.

The fact of the matter is that many people and places and things are named after things that we've actually heard of before; but that doesn't qualify as plagiarism or copyrighting, both of which are crimes but not as deadly as sword fighting.

So you should probably avoid them altogether at any cost just as you should avoid reading this sad tale of the Baudelaires, but at the slim chance that you do accidentally commit one of these crimes, it would probably be wise to pack your things and run to the nearest county so that the local authorities can't catch you.

The reason that I am mentioning this fact at the beginning of this chapter is because whenever Quigley Quagmire and the Baudelaires found the contract that Sir had in his office, they immediately felt as if they had been plagiarized and were victims of copyright infringement, even though this couldn't possibly be the case. During their first encounter at Prufrock Preparatory School, the children had met Isadora and Duncan Quagmire and had discussed their future together, and in that brief time they'd spent which seemed like ages ago; the children had discussed opening a business together.

The very one that the five orphans were now seeing on the contract that Sir had apparently signed some time ago in order to purchase the quarry they were in. So many questions were reeling thru the Baudelaires heads, and even Quigley Quagmire was quite confused; although he knew nothing of the discussion Klaus, Sunny and Violet had had with the two other Quagmire triplets at Prufrock Prep, he was just as curious as to why that now there was a document here with his family's name along with the family name of his close friends, the Baudelaires.

"I never thought that Sir was actually related to us," Sunny commented, trying to ease the tension that they all felt. "Neither did I, but I suppose it fits into why he said that he had the rights to this quarry," Klaus replied.

"I thought for sure he was mistaken," Violet stated.

"Well… he's not an idiot," Quigley said with a smirk and all of his friends chuckled at the joke he'd just made.

"We should probably leave before Sir gets back," Klaus decided. "But we haven't gotten to look at the contract," Violet pointed out. "We can come back later, if Sir finds us here we could get in a lot of trouble," Sunny pointed out.

"Besides we need to report to Babs and get our hardhats," the middle Baudelaire added.

"That name sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Sunny asked as she became lost in thought, considering it. Quigley slid the document back under the pile and seemed lost in thought for a moment before following Violet and the others out of the office and down the stairs.

The quarry seemed a little less busy ever since Mister Dominic had arrived, as if everyone had stopped and stared and became lost in thought just as lost as Quigley Quagmire had been whenever he looked at the document with his name and the Baudelaires' name on it as well. If you have ever been lost in thought, then you know it is an interesting occurrence; because it seems like all time flies by and nothing else matters.

I recall that one time I received something in the mail, something I had been expecting for some time; but yet also never wanted it to come and whenever it did I became lost in thought after reading it; but then again I was lost in thought before it got there and at one point there was something else lost in the mail and it caused me to be lost in thought for years even though I didn't wish to be and then whenever I received this message in the mail, I became lost in thought again this time because the book was so depressing and so saddening and made me feel so miserable and then I read it again and again and I became lost in thought so much that I forgot why and then I cried there on the beach, lost in thought and then completely lost without you Beatrice.

So if you ever find yourself being lost in thought, whether it is because you lost something in the mail while sitting on a brae or you were sitting on a beach reading something that wasn't lost in the mail and thus became lost in thought or you were a worker in a busy quarry and you'd noted the arrival of a dangerous villain, then you will understand how easy it is for these things to happen and you will be able to remain lost in thought for quite some time, just as Quigley Quagmire was as he followed his friends to the tent that Sir had directed them to; lost in thought regarding the sapphire mine that was so near to him and wondering what these men were up to and what they sought and if you were a smart reader, you would not be lost in thought about this story; but rather go about losing your thoughts in some other book at the library where you undoubtedly picked this one up by mistake. Sunny, Klaus, Beatrice, Quigley and Violet all entered the small tent to obtain their hard hats and were immediately greeted by a harsh voice.

"Who is it?" the voice asked and the children all looked about to see who was speaking. Finally, the voice said again, "Well, identify yourselves!" "I'm sorry ma'am but we can't see you," Klaus stated, trying to figure out who was speaking.

"Silence! Children should be seen and not heard!" the voice boomed and this time Quigley pointed toward the small box that was sitting in the middle of the room on a table and then realized that whomever they were speaking to wasn't actually here at all. "Babs," Sunny whispered, and muttered, "I remember now." "What did I just say?" Babs growled over the intercom and then added, "I would meet you myself, but my schedule is very busy and I haven't the time to waste with miserable dirty children and even if I did I wouldn't! Silence! Your hard hats are in the lockers in the back of the tent!"

The Baudelaires all immediately realized why they had been lost in thought regarding Babs, because the three older siblings recognized the commanding annoying voice coming from the speaker; and recalled that this woman whom they'd never seen but had often heard was the former H.R. director for the Heimlich Hospital where Klaus and Sunny and Violet had tried to uncover more about V.F.D. in the library of records but had ultimately failed, a phrase which here means "Count Olaf got in their way."

So even though they had no idea why Babs had resigned her position at the Hospital well over a year ago, it was difficult to say whether or not the children were pleased to hear from her again here at the Quagmire Quarry, and weren't sure whether or not it was a good thing that the woman whom they'd never seen was now working along side Sir.

"Have you gotten your hard hats yet?" Babs asked over the speaker. Sunny then pointed toward the locker and then replied to the woman who wasn't there, "Yes, we're getting them now."

"Silence! Children should be seen and not heard! I don't know why the boss is letting you kids in here in the first place! But I guess it doesn't matter. Silence! Grab your hard hats and then head to the tents where you'll be sleeping!" Babs told them.

"Actually Sir didn't inform us where that would be at," Quigley commented. "Silence! Didn't I already tell you where you'd be staying? The boys will stay in the left tent marked with an A and the girls shall stay in the right tent marked with a B, and if that is too difficult to understand then that's too bad! Silence!" Babs yelled back as the five orphans put their hard hats on and then Sunny muttered, "But we still haven't gotten anything to eat!"

"There should be some bubble gum waiting for you at your tents! Silence! Children should be seen and not heard!" the voice came from the speaker.

"Too big," Klaus muttered as he put his hard hat on and then followed his sisters and Quigley Quagmire out of the tent before Babs could again remind them how children should be seen and not heard, and also realized how odd it was that she insisted on this especially when they'd only heard and never seen her.

"I think those are the tents that Babs was referencing," Violet said, pointing to two tents on the eastern side of the rocky gorge which had the letters on them just as the woman speaking thru the intercom had told them there would be. "I wish we could go explore the mines now," Quigley commented as he gazed over toward the wide entrance, and felt that the sapphire mines that his family owned was calling to him. Klaus shook his head and stated, "It's getting late, and with Mister Dominic lurking about; we shouldn't be apart."

"But you two have to sleep in tent A, whereas Sunny, Beatrice and I are over here," Violet pointed out. "But we'll be close enough to hear each other if something happens during the night," Quigley pointed out and then squeezed Violet's hand and stated, "Don't be lost in thought over everything that happened today, Klaus is right. We need to lay low until morning, and then Charles will take us to the mine. It'll be safer."

"Okay, I just wish we could figure out why Sir has a document with our names on it," Violet stated. "Well technically its our parents names," Sunny replied. "Which means that the Quagmires and the Baudelaires were connected to this place somehow, yes I know," the dark haired, wide-eyed boy said with a nod and then stated, "I don't know why our parents chose to dig up this place together, or why they never told me about the Baudelaires. I wish we all could've been friends before all these unfortunate events occurred."

"What matters is we're friends now," Klaus stated firmly and then added, "And we'll discover what is in those mines tomorrow morning."

Quigley held onto Violet's hand for a brief moment longer and then nodded and followed the middle Baudelaire into the tent marked with an A. Violet held Beatrice close to her, and the eldest Baudelaire and Sunny entered the right tent and got into bed. Despite the fact that all five of the children had had quite an adventure that day, each of them were definitely lost in thought that evening.

Violet lay there in the night considering what they'd learned since their arrival at the Quagmire Quarry, how that Sir and Charles had lost their jobs at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill and how the mysterious Mister Dominic was somehow connected to whatever was going on here.

Sunny thought about the document they'd seen with the names of the Quagmires and the Baudelaires on it, and also thought about Quigley's siblings and whether or not they were safe, especially considering that she truly didn't know where they were.

Klaus thought about the strange connection that Quigley and his sister Violet seemed to be forming, and he was worried; because he knew that if things turned for the worse much like they had between him and Fiona ages ago; that Violet might not be able to handle the heart break and Quigley was the one lost in thought the most; considering how that if he entered the mines tonight he could get a head start figure out what to do and how to stop Mister Dominic and the more that he thought about it and became lost in thought, the more he was convincing himself that this was what he needed to do.

Violet stopped considering the mysterious connections between ERT and Charles and Sir and fell asleep, and Sunny undoubtedly realized how late it was and stopped worrying about her friends and went to bed and Klaus decided that he would watch his sister and Quigley more carefully and then turned in for the night; but only Quigley chose to stay up lost completely in thought and also determined to go explore the mines.

I'm sure you know as well as I do, that if you decide to do something that isn't very wise and that you've convinced yourself of this the smartest thing to do is to wake the other people that you're near and tell them what you've decided.

Quigley Quagmire didn't do this, and how I wish that he did and didn't climb out of bed at night and not wake Klaus and how that the seventeen year old boy then gathered his gear and trekked into the mines on his own.

Had I been there at the Quagmire Quarry with the Baudelaires and the dark haired, wide-eyed boy I am certain that I would've told him about an instance where my comrades and I were sleeping, in the very same quarry that he now was exploring and I foolishly choose to go exploring without anyone to aide me and how it turned out for the worst and I found what they were making and then almost died in the process had it not been for someone near to me pulling me to safety and how that if he was wise, he would leave the past alone entirely and not discover what his parents had been working on; because in this world there are things that must remain unknown just as you cannot know what tomorrow holds it shouldn't be known what other matters are secret, for there is a reason that they are secret and not revealed and had I also known what was being built within the mines I would've preferred not knowing and would've listened to you Beatrice, but I suppose curiosity got the better of me and now you are quite dead and I still have so many things I wish I could tell you but cannot.

But none of that mattered at all, because Quigley didn't have anyone to stop him, and he traveled to the entrance of the quarry and then began the journey into the mines on his own just as I once did ages ago.

And I assure you dear reader that what he found inside was nothing that would prove satisfying and nothing that would bring him closer to the answers that he sought, but rather it would only lead further into secrecy and questions; and perhaps even distrust of his friends the Baudelaires and that is something that I know you wish not to read about just as you should not read any further in this story and instead return to more leisurely activities such as crocheting or yacht christening.

**Looks like a tricky trap is in store for our favorite Quagmire! r/r please**


	7. Chapter Six

_**Six**_

If you have picked this book up by accident and then accidentally opened it to this page and then accidentally saw the phrase "digging yourself in deeper" on this page of the story, then I would recommend to you that you would "accidentally" drop it back onto the beach where it undoubtedly washed ashore and then "accidentally" walk away and forget about being there at the beach and then you would not be digging yourself in deeper in this story and get as far away as possible from Quigley Quagmire and the Baudelaire orphans and the quarry they were both in and no longer be digging yourself in deeper or else you'll be so deep that you'll have to stop digging and by that time you'll have dug yourself in too deep.

So since you would quite likely not want to dig and it is also possible that you don't have any shovels so therefore it would be quite likely that you'll find yourself digging nowhere whatsoever unless of course you happen to have a gorge in your backyard. So since you did accidentally pick up this book and you accidentally turned to this page and accidentally saw the phrase "digging yourself in deeper" then it would be foolish to go any further and to dig yourself any deeper and to stop reading and digging yourself any deeper and just throw the shovels away all together and just go digging somewhere else because if you do read another page of this story, you'll discover how the Baudelaire orphans and Quigley Quagmire dug themselves in deeper than ever before by digging deeper into the quarry where they were currently at and others were digging.

Because the next morning whenever Beatrice, Sunny, Klaus and Violet woke up in the morning; the four orphans immediately saw that Quigley Quagmire was gone and they realized that he must've decided to go explore the mine alone without them.

Sunny was the first to wake up, and yawned widely and then woke up Violet and Beatrice, who was extra cranky because she hadn't had anything to eat except bubblegum because of Sir. So as the three female Baudelaires woke up, Klaus entered their tent and exclaimed, "Quigley is gone!"

"Where could he have gone?" Sunny asked, even though the former toddler was fairly certain where Quigley had gone to, but it was Violet who finally stated, "He must've chosen to go explore the mines last night."

"Why would he go without us?" Klaus wondered as he held Beatrice who was saying, "Tsafkaerb!" which probably meant, "We should find Charles and ask him about this!" or perhaps, "We should find Charles and ask about getting food!" "Beatrice is right," Sunny agreed with a nod and stated, "Charles may be able to help us get into the mines."

"We should avoid Mister Dominic though," Klaus suggested. As the four orphans left the tent, they nearly bumped into a woman with straight brown hair who looked down at them and yelled out, "Watch where you're going!" "Sorry," Violet mumbled.

"Silence! Don't you know that children should be seen and not heard!" the woman remarked and then stormed off. The Baudelaire's eyes all widened in surprise, immediately realizing that this was the same woman whom they'd spoken to via an intercom the previous day, and whom they'd originally heard at the Heimlich Hospital.

But what surprised them most of all was seeing Babs in person, because up this point they had only heard the woman's harsh voice and I suppose for a moment that Violet, Klaus and Sunny thought that maybe she wasn't a real person at all.

I'm sure you know just as well as I do that even though you haven't seen a person that doesn't mean he doesn't exist, for example; I have never personally met my friend C.H. Kornbluth but I have heard quite a lot about him and have also had the time to write correspondence to him on several occasions. Yet everytime I've wanted to meet for tea or a donut at a local café we both enjoy, I've always been too busy avoiding the authorities, setting up private meetings with other allies or posing as a potted plant; and he has always been too busy writing theses, coming up with secret identities and posing as a venomous frog that we've never had the chance to actually sit down and enjoy one another's company.

But of course I recognized that Mister Kornbluth had a very busy schedule as did I, so even though we'd never met we kept in close contact and I knew he existed just as much as I knew that I existed and that he'd never met me and might've even thought I was supposed to dead as certain news articles stated.

But the point I am making is that neither of us has ever gotten to meet each other, although I do hope that very soon we can and if he is reading this I hope you also received your invitation and recognize what it meant and you know where to go and realize that time is of the essence so therefore I can't spend anymore time reminiscing and must tell you my dear friend to hurry otherwise all that we've worked so hard for will be lost forever.

But for Klaus and his sisters, they had never met Babs and of course Babs had never met them either; so it was a case of surprise to see the woman standing there in the Quagmire Quarry instead of hearing her somewhere else entirely. It was difficult to accept, but the Baudelaires knew that they couldn't focus on the fact that they'd seen this woman, but instead they walked across the sandy canyon of the quarry toward the dining tent and hoped that there would be more than bubblegum waiting for them.

Of course, if you've ever met Sir than you know precisely what was waiting for Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Beatrice. As they stepped into the tent, the orphans saw Charles standing there in his purple suit and the former owner of the Lucky Smells Lumbermill looked grim and sad as they entered and Violet was the first to realize that something else besides Quigley going missing was going on.

"Charles, what's going on?" the eldest Baudelaire asked. "Baudelaires… I'm glad to see you this morning. I have some troublesome news for you," the man answered as he pointed toward the coupons and the bubblegum on the table and explained, "But first you should have your breakfast."

Klaus and his sisters tried not to groan as they sat down at the table and looked at their meager meal and only Beatrice felt compelled to say, "Ytsan!" which I don't believe is necessary to translate so instead I will move on to what Charles had to tell the Baudelaires.

"Its this man, Mister Dominic; the one that Sir is having dealings with. I have the oddest feeling I have seen him before," Charles explained as he stood in front of them. The Baudelaires felt relieved and glad to hear that their friend was concerned with the arrival of the dangerous Mister Dominic just as much as they were, but as the orphans exchanged glances at one another, they weren't sure whether it would be wise to drag Charles into the situation.

"You don't trust him?" Klaus asked. "Admittedly, I don't really know. He seems like a nice fellow, but I feel that his reasons for being here at the quarry are not the same as ours. Sir told me that we weren't interested in digging up the sapphires, only what was in the mines… although he never said what that was. I'm fairly certain that Mister Dominic wants whatever it is for himself," Charles stated.

"What makes you think that?" Violet wondered. "Because," the former co-owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill replied in almost a whisper, stating, "He brought dynamite with him."

Dynamite, in case you didn't already know; is a highly dangerous explosive commonly found in the form of a cylindrical stick that if brought in contact with something like fire could cause a very unfortunate event. In my experience, having dynamite around is like inviting rabid wolverines into your home, the experience will never be as pleasant as you had hoped it would be.

The inventor of dynamite actually invented it by accident, a phrase which here means "he died whenever he realized all too late that he invented an explosive and then saw first hand what it could do" because if you know anything about dynamite at all you realize that it has the potential to do a great deal of harm to you if you're standing near to it whenever the stem is lit. All of these thoughts rushed thru the Baudelaires heads whenever they heard Charles explain that their nemesis was carrying dynamite and they also realized that considering their location; the dynamite also had the most potential for being dangerous.

Dynamite and caverns go together like butter on toast, that is to say that each seems made for each other; and often times whenever people are trying to open new passages in mines they use this explosive in order to make their way into another portion of the mine. Considering that the Quagmire Quarry was less than a twenty feet away from where they now stood, it didn't take long for Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice and Violet to guess what it was that Mister Dominic was intending to do with the dynamite that he brought to the sandy canyon.

"You have no idea what he is searching for?" Sunny asked again. "How much dynamite did he bring?" Klaus wondered.

"Is Sir allowing him to use it in the mines?" Violet wondered. "Yrgnuh!" Beatrice added, which probably meant, "I don't really care about dynamite, I'm still famished!" or perhaps, "We need to tell Charles what happened to Quigley!" Almost as if he understood what the infant had stated, the tall thin man commented, "I thought there was another sibling with you when we met in Sir's office?"

"Quigley was with us then," Violet commented. "But he isn't our sibling, he is our friend; and his parents once owned this mine," Klaus reminded their former guardian. "And this morning he trekked into the mines on his own!" Sunny declared.

"My goodness!" Charles gasped and then asked, "Did he have a hard hat on?" The orphans looked at each other and wondered if their friend was grasping what they had just told him, and so Violet stated, "What matters is that the mines could be dangerous, especially since Quigley went in on his own! We need to go in after him!"

"That's out of the question!" Charles declared and then added, "I know you children must think that exploring a mine would be exciting, but this operation is very delicate and we're already behind schedule as it is!"

"We're not here to have fun!" Klaus growled and then added, "Our friend is in those mines and we want to go find him!" "I'm sorry children but I can't allow you four to go into the mine on your own, you'll need an escort," Charles replied firmly.

"All right, who have been assigned to be escorts?" Violet wondered. "Mister Dominic and Babs are both considered escorts," the man replied and then added, "But frankly I don't trust either one of them." "Charles, why can't you go into the mines?" Klaus asked.

"Well I'm the co-owner, obviously; so that means I need to be out here with Sir making important business decisions and also making sure he doesn't do anything foolish," the short haired man replied. Beatrice, Sunny, Violet and Klaus each looked at each other and realized that they were wasting their time by coming here and talking to Charles whenever they could've easily gone to search for Quigley Quagmire on their own and now that this time had been wasted they knew that there was very little time to waste.

"We're sorry to have troubled you," Violet stated. "We'll find one of the escorts," Klaus added. The four Baudelaires left the tent, still hungry and as lost as ever and felt that they had been digging themselves in deeper in the sense that they had tried to find someone who would listen to them and yet had found no one at all.

"What will we do?" Sunny asked as they stood beside the tent and Violet began to think. "We should just go into the mines ourselves and find Quigley, that'd be the smartest thing we can do," Klaus stated, and perhaps it was.

"We certainly can't go to Mister Dominic for help," Sunny muttered. "That's it!" the eldest Baudelaire exclaimed and her younger siblings looked at her surprise and Klaus asked, "Did you think of some way to get Quigley out of the mine?" "Or a way to convince Charles that he shouldn't be so passive about Sir and Mister Dominic?" Sunny wondered. "Doof?" Beatrice inquired which probably meant, "Or a way for us to obtain some breakfast?"

Then the oldest orphan said something that surprised her siblings very much, and in many ways caused the Baudelaires to dig themselves in deeper than they already were. "We're going to ask Mister Dominic to help us," Violet explained, and for the longest moment; none of her siblings spoke. It was as if she had told a joke, but no one was laughing and the reason couldn't have been more obvious because even though Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice hoped that their older sibling was joking they could tell from her firm expression that this wasn't the case.

Still just to make sure, Sunny asked, "Violet, are you feeling all right?" "I'm perfectly fine, Sunny," she said with a nod. "Surely you're joking!" Klaus declared, hoping that his older sister was. Violet shook her head and responded, "You'll understand once we get to Mister Dominic's tent."

"Trams?" Beatrice wondered, which probably meant, "Violet are you sure this is a good idea?" or perhaps, "I hope you know what you're doing or we're in a lot of trouble."

"We've run out of options," Violet admitted and then added, "It would seem we need to dig ourselves in deeper to save Quigley." This of course was absolutely correct, for even though the Baudelaires didn't want to admit it, they knew they would never get inside the mines without Mister Dominic's assistance.

Their options were very scarce and it reminds me of the time I was lost in the Winnipeg Wastelands myself years ago whenever I'd been sent on assignment to the very sapphire mines the orphans were now exploring alongside two companions of mine and we had had an argument earlier that day about which type of bread tomatoes taste better on.

I had insisted the natural selection of pumpernickel whereas my companions had wanted rye and since we couldn't come to an agreement I foolishly trekked on my own, and soon my options were very very very limited. Either I could return to my companions, humiliated and defeated, or I could continue to explore the vast desert and become even more lost and quite likely die of thirst. So naturally I did what was necessary and ate many sandwiches on rye bread that day, suffering shame each time I tasted the bacon or the Swiss cheese or the tomatoes, which I still feel would be better on pumpernickel.

For the Baudelaire orphans it was quite the same and Violet had made that very clear. To her there was no other option except saving Quigley Quagmire, of whom she was very fond. But apparently her brother, who had stayed up all night considering how close his sister and their formerly lost comrade were becoming and decided it was time to voice his concerns.

"How do we know that Quigley isn't on Dominic's side?" Klaus asked in irritation. "Klaus!" Sunny said in shock and then mumbled, "Quigley is our friend!" "Who we haven't seen in a year!" the middle Baudelaire pointed out.

"Quigley would never betray us, Klaus; and you know that," Violet told him, but her younger sibling shook his head and replied, "Isn't that what you're about to do? By joining sides with Mister Dominic… just so you can find Quigley?"

"Why are you against going after him?" the eldest Baudelaire countered. "Maybe it is because I am worried about my sister, who has been getting rather close to our friend lately," Klaus said angrily. There was a silence in the tent that seemed to last indefinitely, although I can assure you that it didn't; as Klaus' words sunk into Violet's heart and she realized that her younger sibling was quite correct about the decisions that she was making.

"Klaus…" she began, not sure what to say, for often times whenever the inner motives are revealed this is the case; and then Sunny stated, "It doesn't matter what Violet's reasons are, Klaus. Quigley went into the mines without us and I'm interested in knowing why."

"But turning to Dominic for help, that's no solution at all," the middle Baudelaire objected.

"Eciohc," Beatrice remarked, which probably meant; "We haven't many options left," or perhaps, "Charles won't let us go into the mines alone."

The four Baudelaires stood outside the tent where Mister Dominic was staying, each fully aware that by stepping foot inside they would be doing something they had promised never to do; allying with a wicked individual. I'm sure if you've ever read any of the miserable experiences these orphans have had you know full well that this was something they've had to do previously whenever Olaf was still alive.

But Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice must've thought that since their wicked guardian was now long gone they would never have to be forced with such a choice again. But now they were here in the Quagmire Quarry wanting to save their friend before it was too late, and the only option was to ask for the aid of the very enemy they wanted to stop.

So the Baudelaires entered the tent that Mister Dominic was staying in, and started digging themselves in even deeper into the misery that was their lives.


	8. Chapter Seven

_**Seven**_

If you ever were in a public school or a secret society or a mayonnaise factory or a ballet recital than I am quite sure that you are familiar with seeing a brawl break out every once and awhile between classmates or members or employees or dancers because they are disputing perhaps what pencils to use for a test or what secret code to incorporate in their slogan or what jar to hold their mayonnaise or what type of footwear to wear to the next recital. But there is a possibility that you've never been to school and you weren't kidnapped to be a member of a secret society, or perhaps were never interested in jarring mayonnaise or have two right feet and can't dance properly and you've never experienced such a situation.

In that case if you did see people begin to fight over issues that perhaps you didn't understand you might feel overwhelmed by such a situation, and the reason I am telling you this is because in this very chapter a terrible quarrel occurs in the Quagmire Quarry and since it is quite likely that you've never dealt with this before I would suggest you not deal with it and go back to waxing your shoes or feeding hummingbirds.

Because as the Baudelaire orphans stepped into the tent where Mister Dominic was sitting and looking over an aged map, prepared to acknowledge that they needed his help; it was just the start of yet another unfortunate event that the children would be caught in the middle of. Once they got inside, their dastardly adversary turned his full attention to them; rolling up the map he'd been perusing and then commenting, "Quite brave of you to come here, isn't it; Baudelaires?" "We're not scared of you," Violet said, trying to sound her bravest; despite the fact that everytime she was in this wicked man's presence she felt on the edge of her seat an expression which here means "the oldest orphan wasn't quite sure what the mysterious malicious man would try to do next."

"That's a pity, I keep hoping to instill such a fear in you four orphans; but it never seems to work," Mister Dominic remarked and then asked, "But seeing as I can't really dispose of you right now in the middle of this busy quarry, I'm assuming you must think you are safe." "You've already allowed us to stay here to help with the excavation," Klaus observed. "Correction, I am allowing your meddlesome mapmaker to stay because he is familiar with these mines," Mister Dominic countered and then frowned and asked, "Where might that triplet be now, orphans?"

"I think you'll find we'll be more cooperative with you if you are more cooperative with us," Violet answered bravely. "Smart girl," the evil man said with a chuckle as he placed the map in one of the drawers and then turned around and asked, "Am I to presume your friend has decided to go exploring the mines on his own?" "Yes that's right," Sunny replied. Beatrice kept a firm hold on her adoptive sister's hand, not wanting to be anywhere near to Mister Dominic; perhaps for fear that some of his wickedness might rub off on her; even though you and I know such a thing isn't possible.

"And you came here… seeking my assistance," the villain realized and then began to laugh mirthlessly a word which here means "the wicked man was very pleased at the fact that the Baudelaires were so miserable" and finally he remarked, "What makes you think I'll help you?"

"I think you said yourself that we have similar goals…" Violet replied and then added, "Charles won't let us go inside the sapphire mines without an escort. And you seem to be interested in finding whatever is in there. I thought we might strike a deal."

"I'm listening," Mister Dominic replied as he continued to smile. The eldest Baudelaire sighed and answered, "If you could figure out a way to distract the workers, we could sneak into the mines when no one is looking."

The wicked man's eyes gleamed as if he found this very amusing, but I'm sure you know if you are familiar with Mister Dominic at all; which might I add I hope you aren't, then you know he was considering this scheme that Violet was suggesting.

"Charles told us you brought along some dynamite, maybe that could help us get deeper into the mine," Klaus suggested. "I must say for supposedly noble volunteers what you're thinking of doing would be quite devious. Plus you have no idea what it is that I am after in these mines," Mister Dominic commented. "That's not important," Violet replied dismissively and then added, "Finding Quigley is."

"To all of you… or only some?" the villain countered with a grin that showed he was fully aware of the fondness that Violet had for the Quagmire triplet. "So what you're suggesting is I prepare a distraction so that the five of us can sneak into the mines, am I right orphans?" Mister Dominic asked, returning to the task that the Baudelaire's had tasked him with. Beatrice, Violet, Sunny and Klaus exchanged a worried glance but they knew there was no turning back now. "Can you promise no one will get hurt?" the eldest sibling asked their nemesis.

"I suppose so," Mister Dominic conceded and then added ominously, "But things could get ugly." "Ead?" Beatrice asked, which probably meant, "What do you mean by that?" or perhaps, "I don't think this is a very good idea and we should leave now." "In this type of operation, a large distraction will be needed," their archenemy explained after Sunny had translated what the youngest Baudelaire had said.

"What kind of distraction are we talking about here?" Klaus asked nervously. "The quarry has quite a few workers, we can't simply expect to walk into the mines unhindered my young friend. I propose we start a quarrel," Mister Dominic answered.

The four children all gasped in surprise at the very idea and Violet muttered, "You mean you want us to start a fight?" "Of course not, we agreed to not have any violence, my dear. But if we could cause a commotion large enough to attract the attention of all the workers, than sneaking into the sapphire mine would be much simpler," the devious villain replied. "I thought that you said no one would get hurt," Klaus pointed out. "I'm sorry Baudelaires but its the best I can do considering the circumstances," Mister Dominic said with another enigmatic smile and then added, "I am actually doing you a favor by even suggesting this idea, because you are of little consequence to me." "Yes I think you mentioned that once or twice before," Violet said under her breath and then turned to her siblings and pleaded, "We have to find Quigley! He has been gone for too long already!"

"You're right, and Quigley doesn't normally get lost," Sunny admitted. "He is a mapmaker," Klaus reminded them. "I guess a small quarrel wouldn't do much harm," Violet conceded and then turned back to Mister Dominic and asked, "What do you need us to do?" "Ah that's more like it," their enemy said with a soft chuckle and then stood up and remarked, "The simplest means to stir things up around here would be to cause an argument about the management." "You mean Sir?" Sunny guessed. "It doesn't take an idiot to realize that most of the workers are dissatisfied with his skills as their leader," Mister Dominic remarked and added, "Yet if someone were to vouch for him why there would be quite a stir throughout the quarry."

"Are you suggesting one us play the scapegoat?" Klaus asked, using a term that actually doesn't reference a real goat at all. In fact, as absurd as it may sound a scapegoat is a person who is blamed for something that is not even remotely his fault. Oftentimes the person who is the scapegoat is a victim, for example I was once accused of being the one responsible for arson, which in this case involved a terrible fire so that a nefarious villain could roam free.

So I had become a scapegoat for this dangerous man's schemes. As for the Baudelaires, they had come to Mister Dominic asking for help, which might I add was a particularly unwise thing to do, and now that nefarious villain was suggesting that one of them pose as a scapegoat so that the others could sneak into the nearby Quagmire Quarry and find their friend who was quite likely lost inside.

To even suggest such an idea should've alerted the children to the wicked man's true nature, but Violet was so intent on rescuing Quigley she stated, "All right, I'll do it!" "Violet! I won't allow you to face an angry mob all by yourself!" her brother objected. "One of you has to perform this simple task, otherwise the whole plan will be for nothing," Mister Dominic pointed out.

"Reetnulov!" Beatrice declared which probably meant, "I don't feel very useful, and I would like to help" or perhaps, "Just because I am still a toddler doesn't mean you should overlook my capabilities!" "Beatrice is right," Sunny said as she held her adopted sister and then explained, "Beatrice and I will cause a commotion while the three of you enter the mines."

"Very good, I despise that one most of all," Mister Dominic said with a scowl towards the youngest Baudelaire. "We'll sneak one by one into the sapphire mines to avoid being caught by Sir or Charles," Klaus suggested.

"It would seem we are ready to move out, orphans. There is not a moment to waste if you want to save your friend," their nemesis said with a sneer and then walked outside. "What're we going to do?" Sunny asked in concern and added, "I don't want to start a fight." "We have no choice, Sunny," her older sister insisted.

Klaus however, had his arms crossed in defiance, a word which here means "the middle Baudelaire knew that they did have a choice and was tired of hearing his sister's excuses when he knew that in reality Violet's concern for Quigley was something more" but the book-loving Baudelaire knew that he would get nowhere by arguing with his sister so instead he proclaimed, "The more time we spend debating this the less Quigley has!" The conversation ended right there as Violet followed their archenemy outside and her siblings weren't far behind. Outside, Mister Dominic was already gathering a box of dynamite and explained, "You useless orphans need to set this plan into motion now if you hope to succeed."

Ignoring their enemy's taunt, Sunny and Beatrice walked toward a group of workers who were attempting to repair a flat tire on one of the dump trucks that had the initials ERT emblazoned on the side of it. As the two young siblings approached the group, they overheard what they were discussing amongst themselves. "Why should we have to fix this tire?" one asked. "It seems pointless to bring sand to the quarry anyway," a second added. "Aren't we supposed to be digging away the sand, not piling it in?" a third wondered.

"It's all Sir's fault! I tell you he has had a screw loose since we left the Lucky Smells Lumbermill!" the first declared. "He has always been an idiot, I say!" the second stated. "No argument here," the third laughed. Sunny realized now why Mister Dominic's plan would work so well and also just how devious it was. Everyone in the canyon clearly despised their boss, but everyone was also keeping such opinions to themselves.

Sunny and Beatrice both knew that this was the perfect chance for them to cause a commotion relating to Sir, so the oldest of the two toddlers stepped closer to the group of workers and proclaimed, "Actually, I think Sir is a very fair manager."

All four of the workers stopped what they were doing on the dump truck and stared at Sunny in surprise. Nervously, the former infant took a step back and asked, "Do you disagree with me?" "Well of course! He's a horrible boss!" the first stated angrily.

"The worst of the worst!" the second added. "I'd rather eat sand than bubblegum!" the third declared. Sunny gazed at this third person intently and realized that it was actually one of Dominic's henchpeople, the short man who was actually quite tall. Nearby, Mister Dominic along with the two older Baudelaire siblings crouched behind a tent watching Sunny and the sinister man gave his subordinate an imperceptible, a word which means "hardly noticeable at all" nod to which the henchperson declared, "Actually, I don't mind getting paid in coupons."

The workers who had been focusing on Sunny now turned to stare at their supposed fellow worker and the first asked, "Have you lost your mind?" "He's just joking, am I right?" the second asked turning to Mister Dominic's henchperson. The short man who was actually quite tall spoke a little louder this time to attract the attention of nearby workers as he proclaimed, "We should all be thankful to have a boss like him. He gave me five coupons last week." "Five! That's favoritism! He only gave me four!" a man called out from a nearby bulldozer. The employee shut down the device and dashed over to the four men who had been working on the dump truck and declared, "Sir said he didn't care about us at all!"

"Maybe he doesn't care about you," Dominic's henchperson declared. Meanwhile, others in the quarry were overhearing this heated quarrel and were becoming interested. Those shoveling had stopped, and those fixing other construction equipment had shut it down and as Sunny and Beatrice looked around; various employees began to surround them on all sides.

Violet gasped softly, but Mister Dominic whispered, "This is the only chance you'll be getting to be inside the mines, orphans. It's now or never." Violet looked at her younger sisters and then nodded and began to move toward the entrance of the Quagmire Quarry. "You can't mean to leave them there!" Klaus objected. "My dear Violet has made the proper choice, Klaus.

Whether you choose to go along with it isn't my concern," Mister Dominic declared as he watched the eldest Baudelaire enter the mines unharmed and then muttered something to himself that Klaus didn't quite understand. Meanwhile, Sunny and Beatrice were quite in a heated quarrel between various members of the quarry, some supporting Sir's managerial techniques and others declaring him to be an idiot, which might I add isn't a nice thing to say about anyone. Sunny held Beatrice close to her, unsure what to do; and noted that her siblings were slowly sneaking into the sapphire mines so for now things were moving along as planned.

Then it occurred to the orphan something that probably should've occurred a few minutes ago in Mister Dominic's tent, now that they had managed to cause such a commotion in the Quagmire Quarry, how were they going to maintain peace again? Already at least thirty men and women had gathered around the two children and were vehemently yelling about whether or not paying employees in bubblegum was right or not.

Klaus now was urged on by Mister Dominic to enter the mine and he steeled himself, a phrase which here means "prepared to enter the sapphire cave" and then rushed toward the entrance. Once Sunny saw that both of her siblings had gotten inside she told Beatrice, "Let's get out of here!" Her adopted sister nodded in agreement and the two of them began to push thru the crowd to get to safety.

But Mister Dominic, treacherous as always; in case you have forgotten, gave another almost unnoticeable nod, a word which here means "imperceptible" to his henchperson as he moved toward the entrance of the caverns and the short man who was actually quite tall declared, "Stop that child! She is the one who started this quarrel in the first place!" Several workers blocked Sunny and Beatrice's path and the young children realized how much of a bind they were in, separated now from their older siblings who were going to be in a bind very soon following Mister Dominic deeper into the mines and closer to the truth.


	9. Chapter Eight

_**Eight**_

Long ago before either you or I were born, that is unless of course you're quite old; there was an old story relating to two disabled people who had eye problems or more specifically they couldn't see at all.

The two men didn't know each other at all, but they were both taking a trip to the same destination. Along the way, the two met each other well actually they bumped into one another seeing as they are blind. This led to both men becoming hopelessly lost and well past their destination and then horribly late, thus resulting in humiliation for both men. So much so that it led to the birth of a familiar phrase, namely that of "the blind leading the blind". Violet and Klaus Baudelaire felt much like the two blind men in the story I just related to you as they stepped into the dark cave in the Quagmire Quarry.

This is not because the two Baudelaire siblings were losing their eyesight, but because they were unfamiliar with the mines and had to put their full confidence in a man who had betrayed them numerous times before.

That man of course, in case you didn't know already, was the deceptive and dangerous Mister Dominic who was currently rubbing his palms together very slowly as they moved deeper into the Quagmire Quarry. In this way Violet and Klaus certainly had reason to feel like they were being led by a blind man and that they themselves were blind because they had no idea what evil scheme their enemy was concocting or whether their two younger siblings were safe outside.

In fact as they moved further from the entrance, Violet asked, "Aren't we going to wait on Sunny and Beatrice?" Mister Dominic stopped in his tracks and turned to the eldest orphan and remarked, "Part of the plan involves the distraction, my young friend. If we wait for those two brats the other workers will surely notice that we have left and come looking for us."

"I'm sorry, you're right," Violet admitted and then followed their archenemy down the cavernous passage. Klaus kept a firm hold on his older sister's arm so that they wouldn't be separated from each other in the dense darkness that now surrounded them on all sides.

Mister Dominic had disappeared in front of them due to this darkness and all the two siblings could do was listen intently to the wicked man's footsteps, which sounded equally ominous and forceful as if with each step their greedy guide wanted to remind them of how much danger they were in. "Why did you apologize? You had no reason to," the middle Baudelaire asked.

"I am not going to argue with him. Would you?" the eldest Baudelaire countered. "Which tells me that he can't be trusted! Violet this is a bad idea!" Klaus whispered. "Quigley is down here somewhere," Violet reminded her brother.

"But to ask Mister Dominic for assistance?" Klaus pointed out. "I don't want to waste time arguing about it, Klaus," his sister remarked. Klaus sighed and didn't say a word, although that singular sound was enough to remind Violet of how much he disagreed with this plan. Up ahead, the soft, methodic sound of their nemesis' footsteps had come to a halt and the two Baudelaires paused as well and waited for their guide to tell them what to do. When no sound came, Violet called out, "Mister Dominic? Why did we stop?" The two Baudelaires, feeling very much like the blind men who were leading each other, waited in silence until at last a light appeared in front of their view. The two orphans had to shield their eyes for a brief moment, seeing as they had grown accustomed to the darkness, and then peered toward Mister Dominic who was now holding a lantern in his right hand. "How much do you children know about Lemony Snicket?" Mister Dominic asked them.

His words echoed for a few seconds thru the dark cavern and the two orphans nervously held onto each other's arms a little tighter.

"We know that he died a long time ago," Klaus commented, and the reason that he said this was probably very obvious. They knew that Mister Dominic had some mysterious connection to the man named Lemony Snicket, but they knew that revealing their knowledge would be dangerous to both them and Quigley.

"Did you know that he and I were partners once long ago?" Mister Dominic asked as he turned about and started walking down the cavern again.

"We didn't know that," Violet commented.

"We explored this cavern together, trying to assist with the mining operation that your parents were involved with. Lemony was an expert at computer logistics. Do you know much about computers, orphans?" Mister Dominic asked them. Each word that he said echoed throughout the cavern making it sound even more dastardly than usual, if that is actually possible. Violet and Klaus kept quiet as they turned down another corridor and listened as their enemy stated, "I seem to recall that while you were in boarding school, a computer failed to warn the teaching staff of Count Olaf's presence."

Mister Dominic came to a stop up ahead and the two Baudelaires realized that they had finally reached the elevator. Their nemesis turned on the lights, causing the entire corridor in front of them to become illuminated as the loud rusty elevator rose to their level. "How deep do you suppose Quigley went into the mine?" Violet asked.

"Probably as far as he could go," Mister Dominic guessed. The old metal elevator came to a stop and the grates slid open so that the three of them could step inside and Mister Dominic commented softly, "That is the problem with computers, children. They only do what we program them to do." Klaus and Violet stood at the back of the elevator, both wondering why their enemy was discussing computers with them whenever they were deep inside a winding cavern. But the two orphans decided to remain silent as the metal grating slid closed again and Mister Dominic asked, "Were you aware your parents helped fund this project?"

Violet shook her head softly and the dangerous man smiled slightly before remarking, "It would seem there were quite a few secrets that your mother and father kept from you." "Maybe they were trying to protect us?" the middle Baudelaire suggested.

"We shall see," their adversary said ominously as the elevator came to a stop. As the three of them stepped out of the elevator, Violet gazed up at the roof of this cavern and noted several pipes were running down the cieling toward something in the wide cave in front of them.

"Where do those go?" the eldest orphan wondered. "Let's find out," Mister Dominic suggested as he walked down the corridor without hesitation. Klaus and Violet kept to the wall, afraid to trip over anything in the dense dark den they were now deep within. As they traveled, they heard the soft hum of machinery somewhere up ahead which became louder and louder with each step that they took.

So much so that they couldn't hear Mister Dominic's steps in front of them. Suddenly Violet hit her head on something and fell backward into her brother, who then tumbled onto the ground as Violet rubbed her and muttered, "Ow. That hurt."

The pipes they had been following jolted down from the ceiling and into the side of the wall in front of them, and the eldest Baudelaire wished that the cave had been brighter so she wouldn't have to experience such a headache. Mister Dominic was busily studying the pipes and commented to the children, "That sounds like a lot of machinery going on the other side of this wall."

"Do you suppose Quigley is close by?" Violet asked as she continued to rub her forehead. "I don't care about him, you fool. I told you that already," Mister Dominic commented and then walked off down the cave and disappeared around the corner. Klaus got up and said, "We can't lose sight of him or we'll be completely lost!" "Help me up then," Violet told her brother.

The middle Baudelaire did so and Violet brushed off the sand on her clothes and muttered, "This is just as sandy as the pits in the quarry." "It looks like the workers were hauling out sand," Klaus discerned. "Then why are they also bringing sand to the quarry?" she wondered.

Her brother shrugged and then the two orphans followed the wall until they turned the corner and came to a metal staircase which led deeper into the Quagmire Quarry. "I can hear Dominic up ahead. It sounds like he is talking to himself again," Klaus stated.

"Or he found Quigley!" Violet said excitedly and then rushed down the stairs to find out. In the story of the two blind men, one of the things that they did foolishly was attempt to run to their destination, which is foolish because since they are blind they tripped over many stones and got bruised and wound up lost, as I aforementioned.

In the case of Violet Baudelaire, although she wasn't blind, she shouldn't have run down the stairs toward Mister Dominic because in doing so she was ensnared in a trap. As she reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, Mister Dominic caught her by the arm and stopped her from running any further and then pushed Violet down toward the wall, where she fell against Quigley Quagmire. "Quigley!" she yelled in surprise and then realized her friend was unconscious.

"What's going on here?" Violet asked as she looked up at Mister Dominic, who had a cold look on his face and then spotted the other figure, who was none other than the genderless troupe member whom the Baudelaires had once thought got lost in the fire of Heimlich Hospital. "Violet?" Klaus called out from the top of the stairs.

"Klaus! Don't-" But before she could make another statement, Mister Dominic snarled softly, "Say another word and your friends life ends here." Violet held her breathe and then watched helplessly as Mister Dominic caught her brother by the arm and covered his mouth to keep him from screaming. "Dominic! You tricked us!" Violet said in frustration. Ignoring the older orphan's comment, their nemesis turned to his henchperson and asked, "Have you made any progress?"

"The boy refused to cooperate! So I decided to wait until I heard from you," he or she stated. "Our schedule has been cut short due to the interference of these children. I need to make my way toward the Winnipeg Estate shortly," the villain remarked. "This was a trap all along!" Violet shouted. "Can you get that one to be quiet?" the genderless troupe member asked.

"Orphans, I know this may come to you as a shock, but I didn't come down here for your benefit! I fulfilled my part of this deal and found your friend. This is where we go our separate ways," Mister Dominic commented dryly.

"Perhaps we could motivate the boy to help us?" he or she asked his superior. Mister Dominic got that familiar gleam in his eye as if he found something amusing and then nodded slowly before stating, "Yes perhaps we could. Wake the boy up."

"Leave him alone!" Violet pleaded and saw Klaus trying to loosen Mister Dominic's grip, which caused their nemesis only to tighten it further. Count Olaf's former member shook Quigley lightly until the dark-haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old awoke and mumbled "Violet, I'm sorry."

"You can save your apologies for later, my young friend," Mister Dominic said with a wicked grin and then went on to explain, "Seeing as you've managed to obtain a head start in exploring these mines, would you mind telling us what you uncovered?"

"Why should I help you?" Quigley asked bravely. "Because if you don't, then both you and the Baudelaire brats will not make it out of here alive," Mister Dominic snarled. "He's bluffing. He tricked us into helping him sneak down here," Violet told Quigley.

"What your dear one means to say is they asked me for help to get inside here. I didn't require any assistance whatsoever," Dominic remarked. "You asked him for help?" Quigley said in surprise. "Now tell us, Quagmire. Have you found anything?" the genderless troupe member asked. Quigley sighed and shook his head before remarking, "A few feet that way there is a device that is being powered by sand, I think that's why those dump trucks have been bringing sand to the quarry, but its not moving fast enough to accomplish anything."

"What could Sir hope to gain by powering that old thing?" he or she asked Mister Dominic.

"It would seem my business partner has once again breached our contract. I believe this matter deserves further discussion," the children's adversary remarked. "What're you going to do with us?" the oldest of the Baudelaires asked nervously.

"An excellent question. I can't have you warning your siblings of what I am plotting, so therefore you can't be allowed to leave this mines alive," Mister Dominic decided. "I thought you said no one would get hurt!" Klaus shouted after their nemesis had shoved him toward his sister. "I might have misspoken," Mister Dominic conceded and then added, "I think the safest thing to do with you is toss you into the sand pit."

"Good idea," the genderless troupe member said with a snicker and then told the children, "On your feet!" Nervously the three orphans did as instructed and were pushed by the two atrocious adults towards a smaller hole in the cavern which seemed to drop down quite a ways.

"You're going to keep us in there?" Quigley asked nervously. "Seeing as your map skills are useless to me, I don't have any reason to not shove you down this hole," Mister Dominic pointed out. "Wait! I think I know where the system is that you're looking for," the Quagmire triplet told the Baudelaire's enemy.

"How does he know about that?" Count Olaf's former troupe member asked in surprise. "Quiet you twit," Mister Dominic remarked and then stared at the oldest of the Quagmire triplets and asked, "Where did you find this out at?"

"What matters is I won't be of much use to you if I'm trapped down here in this mine," Quigley commented.

"Maybe, but how can I be sure that you're telling the truth?" their nemesis asked. "I can assure you that I know much more about these mines than you do," Quigley Quagmire said bravely and then added, "But I won't cooperate if you throw us down there."

"How about this," Mister Dominic said as he took a step closer toward the children and stated, "You tell me where the system is or I will dispose you right now, my young friend." He towered over the three children and then added, "So how about you tell me now."

Quigley felt his confidence drop and then muttered, "Its closer to the front of the mine, buried deep underneath that main passage. I doubt you'd get to it unless you used dynamite." "Quigley!" Violet and Klaus both said in surprise and then their friend muttered, "I'm sorry, I had no choice." "Good choice Quigley, I knew you would be of great help," Mister Dominic stated and then added, "It just so happens I have dynamite with me. So I no longer need you three."

Then without another word, their nemesis pushed them down the hole and Klaus, Violet and Quigley tumbled into the dark hole, sand covering them all over. Mister Dominic laid the dynamite quickly and shouted down to them, "I'm sorry it had to be like this children, but I've had enough of your meddling. I will miss the time we spent together." "Wait!" Quigley shouted up, but it was too late, the hole had been covered and a soft boom told the orphans that they were now trapped deep underneath the Quagmire Quarry with little chance of escape and more than ever Klaus and Violet felt they had been blinded by the truth of Mister Dominic's wickedness.


	10. Chapter Nine

_**Nine**_

You may have noted in the previous chapter that there was no mention of what had become of the two younger Baudelaire siblings, Sunny and Beatrice who had been left outside to handle a quarrel that had started to brew thanks to events that happened earlier in the story.

If you weren't wondering what became of the younger Baudelaire siblings, than feel free to skip past this chapter and discover what occurred while Klaus, Quigley and Violet were trapped in the mines. Or if you didn't read the previous events that resulted in Sunny and Beatrice being surrounded by an angry mob of workers, than I recommend you go back and read that. Or if you haven't read any of these things and were simply glancing thru the book than I suggest that you simply dispose of it now by means of fire or perhaps ripping it in two, whichever would be the most sensible depending on the area you live in.

For if you were brave enough to travel down the dark cave alongside Klaus and Violet, than I encourage you to stop reading now rather than learning of the many things that transpired at the same time for poor Beatrice and Sunny, who had only been following the instructions of the devious Mister Dominic; and if you know anything about this dangerous villain at all then I'm sure you realize just what sort of trouble the two Baudelaire maidens are in.

The workers were ranting and raving about their boss, and growing louder with each outburst as one of Mister Dominic's henchpeople, the short man who was actually quite tall declared, "Enough of this bickering! These two are the ones who started the quarrel in the first place!" The other workers stopped yelling at one another and then looked at the two young orphans and one worker muttered, "Why do you believe that Sir is a good boss?"

Beatrice and Sunny had huddled together in the center of the crowd, each nervously clinging to the other as they looked at the angry crowd and then Sunny declared, "Well, perhaps we misspoke."

"He is a horrendous manager!" one worker stated.

"A terrible man to work for!" another declared.

"I would rather have to walk over hot coals than have to continue working for Sir!" a third remarked.

"I think I meant to say that Sir is the worst boss that there is," Sunny said with a nod and her adopted sister nodded as well. The short man was actually quite tall frowned, but didn't make another attempt to cause more trouble seeing as his own superior, Mister Dominic had entered the Quagmire sapphire mines successfully.

The other members of the angry mob seemed to settle down as they realized that the issue had been resolved, or so they had thought. At that very moment, a man with straight hair wearing a wavy purple suit appeared and started running toward the group shouting, "What is going on here?"

As he came closer, Sunny and Beatrice immediately realized that it was Charles and wondered if he would attempt to get the workers back to working.

The orphans held their breath as Charles approached and the co-owner of the Quagmire quarry spotted them and asked, "Baudelaires! What is the meaning of this?"

Charles stared at them, obviously waiting for an answer, but Sunny and Beatrice weren't sure what to say. They knew they couldn't reveal the real reason they had caused a commotion in the quarry otherwise they would expose Violet and Klaus, but Charles was looking down at them expecting an answer and therefore they couldn't be silent.

Fortunately the short man was actually quite tall spoke up for them and remarked, "The Baudelaires had a misunderstanding with a few of the workers."

"What was this dispute about?" Charles asked. "Our wonderful leader," a worker said with a chuckle.

"He's a horrendous man," another stated.

Charles frowned and replied, "I know his methods aren't always the most conventional, but I believe he has a good heart."

"Of course you would say that! You're his partner!" another employee shouted out. "All the rest of us live on coupons and bubblegum! I bet you get served steak every night!" a fourth person declared. "Now let's not exaggerate," Charles advised. Sunny and Beatrice slowly crept out of the crowd as the group became more and more frustrated with the former co-owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill and once they were out of the mob, Sunny told her adoptive sister, "We've got to catch up with Violet and Klaus!"

"Evael?" Beatrice asked, which probably meant, "Are you sure Charles will be all right?" or perhaps, "It seemed to me that Mister Dominic's henchperson was being too cooperative with that distraction, do you suppose Violet and Klaus are okay?"

"I don't know what's going on," The former toddler admitted and then added, "But look! There's Mister Dominic now!" Sure enough, Beatrice could spot the well-dressed villain as he emerged from the entrance of the mines, but the youngest Baudelaire immediately realized something was quite wrong. "Ginlbis!" she said to which Sunny commented, "I don't see Violet or Klaus anywhere either!"

The two waited for a minute to see if their older brother and sister were lagging behind the devious double-crosser and when they realized that they weren't, Sunny declared, "Mister Dominic must've tricked us!"

They watched as their enemy entered his tent and the former infant said, "Come on! Let's get to the bottom of this right now!"

As the two Baudelaires moved toward Mister Dominic's tent, a loud klaxon blared thru the quarry and the two orphans turned around to see that the group of workers they'd distracted earlier were now taking over a large crane. The two orphans gasped in surprise as the workers started up the machine and Sunny muttered, "What're they doing?" "Enarc!" Beatrice yelled out pointing at the construction equipment.

She probably meant, "I think they're going to do something with that crane." or perhaps, "I don't like the looks of this."

As the two Baudelaire maids watched, the short man was actually quite tall activated the behemoth-like crane causing steam to shoot from the smoke stacks and then rallied his fellow employees toward the device, but Beatrice and Sunny were too far away to hear, so Sunny said, "We had better make sure no one gets hurt!"

Beatrice was about to object and point out that their main priority should be to find what had happened to Violet and Klaus, but her older sister pulled her toward the crane before she got a chance to say anything. As they approached the quarrelsome crowd, the two Baudelaires heard Charles frantically trying to stop the operation stating, "This is madness! Someone could get hurt!"

"This is a strike! You don't have a say as to what we can and cannot do any longer," one worker replied.

"We're going to show Sir who really is the boss around here!" another added. Sunny tugged on Charles' coat and asked, "What're they planning to do?" "Children! Get away from here quickly! These men have commandeered the crane and I fear they are plotting to harm Sir!" Charles replied, his voice sounding very high-pitched due to how nervous he felt.

"They'll kill him!" Sunny realized as she glanced up at the office on the side of the canyon and wondered if Sir had any idea what was going on in the quarry below him. "We've got to stop them!" Sunny decided.

Already the vengeful employees of the Quagmire quarry had started up the noisy machine and it began rumbling toward Sir's office. "If you want to help than hurry and tell Sir what is going on out here!" Charles insisted. The two orphans nodded and then ran toward the flight of stairs leading up the office.

"Yrruh!" Beatrice cried out, which probably meant, "If they destroy Sir's office the contract will be gone too!" or perhaps, "Do you suppose this has anything to do with what Mister Dominic is up to?"

Sunny didn't answer her and simply ran up to the office entrance and walked in without even knocking. As usual, Sir was looking over some kind of documents, his head covered with smoke from the cigar he was holding but as soon as the orphans entered, he barked, "Who is entering my office without knocking?"

"Sir, its me, Sunny Baudelaire! You've got to come with me right away!" "Baudelaire! What're you still doing here? I thought I informed Dominic I didn't want you meddlesome brats as part of this operation!" Sir declared. "But Sir! Some of the workers are revolting!" Sunny stated.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot! I hate them all! Ugly and disgusting and dirty people! Always covered with sand!" Sir declared. "No Sir I meant they're rallying against you!" Sunny explained. "What is that bothersome noise?" the former owner of Lucky Smells asked as he moved toward the window and opened the blinds.

It is difficult to say whether or not Sir's eyes widened in surprise whenever he opened the blinds and saw the commotion that was occurring in his quarry, especially since his head was still obscured by a thick cloud of smoke, but from the next thing he said, it was clear to Beatrice and Sunny that he hadn't been expecting this.

"Those annoying associates of mine have turned against me!" Sir said and then barked, "They must've sent you up here to distract me! I'm not an idiot!" Before Beatrice or Sunny could say anything at all, the short man pushed past them down the flight of stairs in a panic.

"We've got to find that contract!" Sunny told the youngest Baudelaire. "Reward!" Beatrice called out, pointing at the desk Sir had been sitting at. Sunny nodded and opened the drawer up, tossing the cigars aside to search for the document pertaining to ownership of the sapphire mine.

"It isn't in here!" the former toddler realized. The loud hum of the crane grew closer and the youngest Baudelaire knew that there wasn't a moment to waste and told her sibling, "Etsahtsop!" which was easily translatable when the two orphans dashed out of the hightop to the ground below. It is here that must inform you that the following portion of the story can be quite frightening. So much so in fact that when I first showed it to my editor, they were forced to visit a graveyard to make certain their tombstone wasn't already there.

As I'm sure you understand dear reader, I do not choose my editors lightly.

As a matter of fact this particular editor had braved lion's dens and prison cells before he ever read this exercpt and yet he still wasn't prepared.

So if you find yourself unable to read any further, I assure you that I won't take offense. In fact whenever I first past the rough draft to the editor via a trained bat, I added the note to tell him how terrifying it was and yet he didn't listen to me as he should've.

But you can have the chance that he did not and cease from reading any further at all. Otherwise you may find yourself rushing to the nearest cemetery to check out caskets for yourself, which I can assure you isn't as exciting as it may sound. For the next things that happened in the quarry are so horribly frightening that I am finding it hard to even describe them myself.

This is because there are no words to describe the loud gut wrenching sound of the crane smashing against the office that Beatrice and Sunny had fled from moments earlier, and it is because there is no way I could accurately explain to you how frightening it was for the two Baudelaires to see pieces of wood and metal flying thru the sky due to the impact of the massive metal ball that the employees had used for this destruction and I won't even attempt to explain to you how much sand flew up into the air causing the entire canyon to be nearly blanketed in the mess and it would be pointless for me to describe how Sunny and Beatrice leapt from the stairs to the sand below and how afraid they were of what would transpire next in the Quagmire Quarry as the crane came to a halt and for a moment there was no sound at all.

More pieces of wood and debris scattered to and fro around them as the workers got out of the crane and moved thru the dusty terrain toward where Sir was at and someone shouted, "There he is!" The sand engulfed them all so thoroughly that it was impossible to see just what was going on and Sunny told her adoptive sister, "We've got to get Sir out of here or they'll hurt him!"

Beatrice nodded in understanding and crawled over to where the former owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill was lying and trying to rouse him. "Get off of me you idiot!" Sir bellowed as he got to his feet and then added, "This is a complete outrage! You Baudelaires are responsible for this entire mess!"

"We're trying to help!" Sunny insisted.

"Well I don't believe you!" Sir said as he quickly began to dust off his point, which might I add was a pointless thing to do since the dust had yet to clear and it was so thick it was difficult for Sunny or Beatrice to see him and visa versa.

"Sir I'm so sorry this happened!" Charles said from somewhere nearby. "Charles! Look at what happened to my beautiful office, you idiot!" Sir barked. "These workers have gone on strike," Charles explained. "Strike? I won't allow that! They're all fired!" Sir declared.

"You can't fire us!" one worker said.

"We quit!" another answered.

Slowly the dust cloud began to dissipate and Sunny and Beatrice rubbed their eyes, which were extremely irritable from being in the dust for so long and once they finished kicking sand out of their shoes and off their clothes, they looked around the quarry to see that most of the workers were standing close to the crane and the remaining debris from the office.

Pieces of paper drifted thru the air aimlessly as if they were dandelions and Sunny groaned to herself, realizing that somewhere in all this mess was the contract she had been desperately hoping to find. Sir reached into his pocket as the dust cleared and pulled out a cigar and lit it up, causing his face to be once again obscured by the smoke instead of the dust and then he declared, "Where is Dominic? I demand to speak to him right away!"

"I'm right here, Sir," the well-dressed villain remarked as the dust finally completely cleared and the Baudelaire orphans saw that their nemesis was standing alongside the other members of the quarry who were revolting against Sir.

"Dominic! What is the meaning of all this?" the former owner of Lucky Smells Lumbermill asked. "I'm afraid that Charles wasn't exaggerating whenever he said that the workers have gone on strike. They've grown tired of being paid only with bubblegum and coupons," Mister Dominic answered.

"But that is more than fair, considering the fact that I am a very reasonable boss," Sir said as he took another puff of his cigar.

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one," the short man who was actually quite tall declared.

"But if they quit who will dig up the sapphire mines?" Charles wondered in despair. Mister Dominic shrugged impassively and remarked, "The operation was a complete waste of time. I don't see any chance of us finding the system." Sunny and Beatrice remained quiet, unsure of what was going on; and wondering whether or not Sir would except the fact that he was in fact an exceptionally poor manager.

"But I thought we had a deal!" Sir said in frustration.

"I'm sorry, but you've had more than enough time to search these mines," Mister Dominic pointed out and then added, "You're washed up, Sir." It seemed that this simple statement was enough to impact the short man in the green suit and he said nervously, "But what will we do now?"

"I see no reason for me to continue doing business with you, not to mention the fact that with the destruction of your office; our contract is now in shambles. You no longer have rightful ownership of this mine," Mister Dominic said with a wicked grin, which Sunny and Beatrice knew meant that the dangerous villain had planned this outcome all along.

"I know that! I'm not an idiot," Sir said, although he sounded very unsure of himself and then muttered, "This is uncalled for! First we were pushed out of Paltryville because of those annoying realtors and now you're pushing me out of this quarry because of a stupid strike! You're an idiot!"

"I will not take offense at that statement, Sir. But I suggest you leave now and not return," Mister Dominic stated and then reached into his pocket and tossed the man a pair of car keys.

"There is a limousine parked up the hill quite a ways, you can take that to go wherever you wish to," the nefarious backstabber remarked.

The short man took another puff of his cigar and then stated, "You'll pay for this! You all will!"

He pointed a grimy dust covered finger toward the two orphans and stated, "Especially you orphans! I won't forget what role you played in this whole mess!" "Sir wait!" Charles pleaded as he rushed toward his business partner and then proclaimed, "I'll go with you."

"Of course you will! I'm not an idiot!" Sir muttered and then placed his hands in his pockets and started walking toward the entrance of the quarry. Sunny and Beatrice were about to follow after them, whenever one of the workers asked, "What happens to us now?" "You'll be working for me," Mister Dominic told them and then added, "And we're not leaving until we find that computer system."

"Where are our siblings?" Sunny asked him bravely. The dangerous man looked down at the two orphans and stated, "Don't worry, I'll take you right to them." But if you had heard the way that Mister Dominic had said it, then I'm sure you would know just what all was implied.


	11. Chapter Ten

_**Ten**_

Approximately thirty minutes earlier, thirty feet below where Sunny and Beatrice had stood watching Mister Dominic leaving the entrance of the sapphire mines; Klaus, Quigley and Violet were shoved into a small dark hole completely filled with sand and left there unattended and trapped. The reason I am reminding you of this unfortunate event is to tell you what transpired after they were locked into the small hole and Klaus began to check the sides of the cave for any chance of escape.

Quigley dusted off as much of the sand as he could from himself as Violet tied her hair up with a bow and began to think. "Sunny and Beatrice will realize that we've gone missing and come looking for us," she assured her brother. "Unless Mister Dominic tricks them as well," he mumbled softly. "This is all my fault," Quigley added.

"That's not true," Violet argued. "Actually he has a point, he is the reason we're down here," her brother said irritably. "Klaus! How can you say something like that?" the eldest Baudelaire asked.

"If you hadn't been so interested in rescuing him than we might've had a fighting chance to figure out what Dominic wants in this mine!" Klaus argued. "You shouldn't have trusted Dominic at all. The things that Mister Snicket told me about him assure me that he is nothing but a backstabber and a double-crosser, both to us and to every member of V.F.D.," Quigley stated.

"I tried to tell her that," the middle Baudelaire stated. "How was I supposed to know that Mister Dominic was leading us into a trap?" his sister countered. "When has he not been attempting to do that?" Klaus said.

"Do we really need to spend our time bickering?" the dark-haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old asked them and then added, "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to do that once we get out of this mess."

"Quigley is right, Klaus. Let's try to focus on getting out of here," Violet told her younger brother. "I'm sorry, you're right of course. I just can't help but feel like a fool because we believed that Mister Dominic would help us," Klaus lamented.

"It looks like the only way out is wherever this sand goes to," Quigley commented. "What do you mean? I thought they were bringing the sand and dumping it into this pit," Klaus stated. "Well yes, but there must be a reason that they're doing it," Violet reasoned as she gazed around and commented, "Maybe there is a sinkhole below us."

"You told Mister Dominic there was a piece of machinery somewhere close by that was being powered by sand didn't you?" the middle Baudelaire asked their friend. "Yes that's right, the dump trucks have been pushing sand over a hole and it has slowly been coming down here like an hour glass, it powers the generator you saw earlier," Quigley answered. "What was that for anyway?" Violet wondered.

"Seemed like Mister Dominic was wondering the same thing," Klaus observed. "I believe Sir was using the sand to start up the generator, and hoped to reboot the system," Quigley answered.

"He mentioned that too, what was he talking about?" Violet asked. "I can only speculate, that they were searching for one of the supercomputers that my parents helped design," the Quagmire triplet answered. "A supercomputer?" Klaus said as he cleaned his glasses again and then remarked, "He was talking to us earlier about that… but I had no idea why he was referencing it."

"What did he say?" Quigley wondered. "He mentioned the computer back at Prufrock Preparatory School, and how that it failed to properly identify Count Olaf because he had been disguised," Violet answered.

"My parents helped design that program as well," Quigley explained. "They did? Isadora and Duncan never mentioned it to us," Klaus commented. "Probably because they didn't know… our parents didn't tell us. I learned that from Mister Snicket," Quigley explained.

"So how does that fit in with Mister Dominic searching for a supercomputer in an old mine?" Violet asked. "I'm not sure, but apparently he was tasking Sir with finding it for him; that's why he hadn't mined any of the sapphires," Quigley Quagmire answered.

"So then Mister Dominic believes that this computer is more valuable than all of the sapphires in this mine," Klaus observed.

"Apparently," the dark haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old agreed.

"None of this matters right now, I suppose," Violet conceded as she sat on the sand and considered their next move. Abruptly, the sand beneath her shifted and the three orphans felt like something below them had caused a rupture. "What was that?" Klaus asked.

"Maybe it really is a sinkhole?" Quigley suggested. "Let's not waste time to find out, come on!" Violet said as she began to dig. "The sand is too thick to dig thru!" Klaus objected. "If all three of us work together maybe we can cause a pocket to form and the sand will fall thru faster," Quigley suggested.

"Good idea," Violet agreed and the three orphans began to work on one spot, tossing sand madly behind them. Again the pit shifted and Klaus declared, "I think it's working!" "One thing I'm worried about," Violet commented. "What's that?" the Quagmire triplet asked, but before the oldest orphan got a chance to answer him; the sand beneath their feet began to fall at an alarming rate and all three of the children lost their footing as they became engulfed in sand.

Now let me assure you that this is not the end of the Baudelaires and their friend Quigley Quagmire, even though this is a very distressing situation and much like being engulfed in cement, the children realized how dangerous their situation was as soon as it happened.

It is difficult to explain just how dangerous this is unless of course you've experienced it yourself; so I will not hassle you with the details but instead simply assure you that Violet, Klaus and Quigley survived.

This is not to say that their troubles were over, but far from it as a matter of fact; for the sand deposited the three orphans into a dank underground chamber which looked very unfamiliar to all three of them. Coughing and spitting sand out of their mouth, the children looked around the dimly lit room and Quigley said, "I think this is the master computer chamber."

Indeed, several computer monitors were sitting nearby completely covered with sand and dust, unused and rusting over the years; and the seventeen year old remarked, "This is fantastic! We found it before Dominic did!"

"We must be fifty feet below the surface of the quarry," Klaus observed. "This was the first chamber that V.F.D. mined, it was connected to several other passageways in the area, perhaps even the Winnipeg Estate," Quigley answered. "Why did they make it?" Klaus asked.

"It is in an odd location," Violet agreed. "Probably to stay hidden," Quigley decided. "But this was possibly years ago, well before the schism. What was V.F.D. doing with all these computers down here anyway?" Klaus wondered as he walked over to them and gazed at them thoughtfully. "What do suppose these were for?" Violet asked.

"Rather than asking all these questions, maybe we should figure out how to turn them on," Quigley suggested. "After all these years, the system probably doesn't even work," Klaus pointed out.

"If that was true, then why is Mister Dominic so interested in getting his hands on this?" Violet countered. "She has a point, let's try to see if there is any way to turn it on," Quigley decided. "Where would we look?" Klaus asked.

"Everywhere," Violet decided and then she began to look behind the various consoles for any type of clue. "There are certainly a lot of power cords here," Quigley observed. "If that sand is supposed to generate power for these consoles, they should be starting by now," Klaus said as he looked at one of the screens and then commented, "Hold on, I think I found something here."

Quigley and Violet stopped their search as the middle Baudelaire pressed the small rectangular button on the side of the monitor and then a soft beep came from the computer itself. "Good work Klaus!" Violet said encouragingly.

"It won't stay on for long though," the middle Baudelaire observed and then explained, "The power source is low." "When we fell we must've off set the generator," Quigley realized. The three children turned around to where they had entered this dark chamber to see a pile of sand covering most if not all of the small gears which may have been turning only moments earlier.

"Is there anyway that we can fix it?" Klaus wondered aloud. "We can certainly try," Quigley said as he rolled up his sleeves and began to push sand to the side of the machine. Violet was gazing at the computer monitor, which chirped to life occasionally, showing bits and pieces of what appeared to be a question mark, but the oldest orphan couldn't say for certain.

Meanwhile both her brother and Quigley were attempting to dig thru the sand to get the machine up and running and Klaus remarked, "It wasn't very smart of V.F.D. to create a machine that runs on sand."

"Maybe it was originally water? Years ago there was a lake nearby, the Winnipeg Wastelands weren't always this way," Quigley suggested as he pushed the gears and got them to turn. "I think you got it to work," Violet told them as the computer screen solidified and a series of ones and zeroes appeared on it.

"What is the meaning of all this?" Klaus asked.

"It's binary code, a type of system that computers use for programming, I was taught this by Mister Snicket during my service to him," Quigley explained.

"It seems that Mister Snicket knows a thing or two about all these goings on," Violet observed. Once the code had finished being typed on the screen, a list of names came up; most of which neither Quigley nor the Baudelaires recognized and Klaus asked, "Is it some sort of database?"

"It seems to be just that, Klaus," Quigley agreed and then stated, "I think these are all members of V.F.D.." "A database comprised of the members of V.F.D., why would Dominic want something like that?" Violet wondered.

"Is there anyway we can get this information off the supercomputer?" Klaus asked. "Hold on just a moment," the Quagmire triplet stated as he continued to read the list of names, and as he did so; his expression turned sour and he remarked, "Why aren't my parents in this database?"

"What do you mean?" Violet asked. "Exactly what I said! I don't see any Quagmires on here at all!" Quigley stated.

"Well that just doesn't make sense, we know that they were members of V.F.D. they were part of the founders, right?" Violet wondered aloud.

"Maybe they kept their names out of the system because they are the ones that designed it," Klaus suggested. "But your parents are here, as is Mister Snicket and his sister; Kit. Yet not a single Quagmire is given any credit. It doesn't add up," Quigley admitted.

"I wish I knew what to tell you, Quigley; I sure don't have the answers," Violet stated. "Maybe Mister Snicket does?" Quigley wondered.

"He definitely was aware that this system was down here," Klaus stated. "And he created it," the triplet remarked as the script came to an end and the computers shut off again. "Is that why you suspected that there might be something down here?" Violet guessed.

"I wasn't sure what we would find," Quigley admitted and then added, "But I am very glad that we did find something."

"What sort of work does Lemony Snicket do anyway?" Violet wondered aloud. "He is definitely a member of V.F.D. a very prominent one since the Duchess of Winnipeg respects him so much," Quigley answered and then added, "I'm going to try to download this database."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Klaus asked in concern. "I don't know if this is related to the other work Mister Snicket has been doing, but we can't allow this to fall into the hands of Mister Dominic; that much I do know," Quigley Quagmire responded.

Violet nodded in agreement and told her brother, "He's right, we've seen already that Mister Dominic is interested in this system, so we've got to make sure he doesn't get it."

"Then we should destroy the computers before he gets down here," Klaus decided firmly. "We can do that after we download the database. Just think, having all this information on V.F.D. could be useful for us," Quigley stated.

"Most of these members are probably long dead," the eldest Baudelaire remarked.

"I doubt Mister Dominic would be interested in a list of names for dead people," Klaus quipped and then told Quigley, "I found some discs over here we can use to download the information to."

"Good work, insert them over there," the Quagmire triplet remarked pointing to a slit in one of the machines where the disc that the middle Baudelaire held clearly went. As he did so, Quigley made a few precise keystrokes and then the process began.

A small bar appeared on the screen to show the three children the progress of the download and as it slowly increased, Violet peered around the rest of the abandoned chamber. There were several other passage ways that clearly had once connected to this one, but due to the passage of time itself had been covered up with sand and rock and dirt and were now nothing but dead ends.

"I wonder if this connects to the Anxious Clown diner," she muttered.

"Or 667 Dark Avenue," Quigley Quagmire put in.

"Or our old home, like the one to the Very Fine Dwelling once did," Klaus stated.

"Why did V.F.D. have such intricate tunnels anyways?" Violet asked. "It was an easier way to travel from here to there without being seen and they were designed as escape routes, in case of fire," Quigley answered.

"But I don't understand, weren't these passages built before the schism? What was V.F.D. afraid of back then?" Klaus asked.

"I don't know," he admitted as the status bar became full and the screen indicated that the download was complete. The middle Baudelaire took the disc out and passed it to his friend before commenting, "I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why our parents never met. Maybe it was too dangerous to do so?"

"My parents never even mentioned the name Baudelaire to me before their death several years ago. And in their will they specifically instructed all three of us to be shipped to Prufrock Prep if something happened to them. They left this mine in our names, but told us nothing else about any society called V.F.D. It was as if there was a whole chapter of their lives that Duncan, Isadora and I never read," Quigley lamented. Violet laid her hand on the triplet's shoulder and commented, "If it helps any, we know precisely how you feel. We've learned quite a few things about our parents that we never knew before, some of them very uncomfortable."

"If only we could rendezvous with Mister Snicket, than perhaps we could learn more about our families," Klaus suggested. "With this disc, we can head straight to the Winnipeg Estate, if we ever get out of here," Quigley said as he gazed at the room around them and lamented, "I hate to say this, but it looks like we're trapped for the moment."

Klaus and Violet had not wanted to state that fact either, because there is a fact about mines that you may be unaware of; that is that the oxygen supply within them is often quite limited. And since the chamber they were in was closed in on all sides, the three children had no other means of obtaining the air they needed to breathe; so they had no way to escape.

"Maybe we can climb back into that pit?" Violet suggested.

Before her brother or Quigley Quagmire; of whom she had grown closer to than before could answer a loud blast came from their right and the orphans shielded themselves as rocks and sand shifted and fell toward them.

The dust from the explosion covered the chamber they were standing in and the Baudelaires and Quigley Quagmire started coughing softly as the air cleared and in walked several figures they immediately recognized. Sunny and Beatrice were in front, followed by the genderless troupe member, the short man who was actually quite tall and the tall woman who was actually short and Mister Dominic himself, who had the same usual sinister gleam in his eye as he entered the chamber, gazed at the children standing there in front of him and remarked, "Magnificent! Now I can dispose of all of you at once!"

And the Baudelaires and their friend knew that their nemesis was intending to do just that.


	12. Chapter Eleven

_**Eleven**_

"It couldn't be any worse" is a phrase often used whenever you're experiencing circumstances that have turned sour and someone says that this is the worst possible scenario you could be in, and sometimes that turns out to be true.

There is also another phrase, one that I will probably never use whenever I describe the situation the Baudelaires are in and that is "things couldn't be any better"; it is the exact opposite of the phrase I used to begin this chapter with and it is also the first thing that the notorious villain Mister Dominic said whenever he entered the dusty chamber and told his minions to surround the five children.

"Things couldn't be any better, Baudelaires," Mister Dominic with a wide grin as he gazed at all of their distraught faces and knew that for them things couldn't be any worse, which for the most part was right for the children; but if you've read any of my stories whatsoever than I'm sure you know by now that things will continue to get much much worse for both the Baudelaire orphans and their friend Quigley Quagmire.

"Thank you so much for helping me discover the location of this chamber, Quigley," Mister Dominic remarked and then added, "I couldn't have done it without you." "Don't mention it," the triplet said angrily.

"What is that he is holding, boss?" the short man who was actually quite tall asked, pointing at the disc that Quigley was trying to obscure from view. "It would seem this pathetic orphan has helped us once again by downloading the entire database for us," Mister Dominic said with a brief laugh and then leaned toward the seventeen year old and stated, "If you would be so kind as to hand it over, we'll be on our way."

"I can take you on, one on one," the dark haired, wide-eyed youth said bravely as he stood in front of his friends. "Quigley, you don't have to do that," Violet told him. "I would die for you if it was necessary," he told her.

"That can always be arranged if you fail to give me what I want," Mister Dominic said angrily.

"What do you want this for anyway? Of what use is it to you?" Klaus asked.

"I don't have to waste my time explaining myself to you sniveling brats; but you should know by now that this whole operation has been in the works for quite some time. Do you think it was by mistake that I worked at the Very Fine Dwelling as the Assistant Recorder for all those years waiting until my allies and I could finally make our move?" Mister Dominic asked with another mild snicker.

"So then why wait until now? It has been over a year since the fire at the Hotel Denouement," Sunny pointed out. The devious man stared at all of them and remarked, "There is so much going on that you still hardly aware of my dear Baudelaires. My allies and I have been planning this for a very, very long time. And I assure you that it will soon be coming to an end."

Mister Dominic stared at Quigley again and remarked, "One less orphan is of no consequence to me, so just give me the disc and I will not kill you where you stand."

The Quagmire triplet hesitated for a moment and saw Violet's pleading eyes, knowing that he had little choice in the matter. Reluctantly, Quigley passed the disc over to the tall woman who was actually quite short who then gave to Dominic who then smiled and stated, "You've been very helpful, my dears. Now if you'll excuse me; there is a masquerade ball that I must prepare for."

As he slipped the disc into his coat pocket, the wicked man added, "Tie them up and then light the dynamite. I want them to be lost forever along with this ridiculous project."

"But they are only children," the genderless former member of Count Olaf's troupe proclaimed.

"They've meddled in affairs for the last time. I won't allow them to do it again," Mister Dominic snarled and then added with a hint of menace, "Need I remind you of what happens to those who cross me."

He or she shook his or her head negatively and the dangerous villain nodded and stated, "I thought not. So tie them up and let's get out of here."

The other members of the troupe nodded in agreement and then Mister Dominic left them to finish what he'd started. Quigley seemed prepared to try something again, but Violet shook her head again and the triplet agreed again not to fight back.

All five of them were tied to the device that had originally been powered by sand as the troupe members set sticks of dynamite throughout the chamber and then slowly dropped powder on the ground in a trail as they left, which would serve as the fuse for the dynamite.

"I'm sorry I got you four involved in this," Quigley Quagmire lamented to his friends.

"It isn't your fault, we wanted to help you find out why Sir was digging in these mines," Sunny stated.

"And we did discover the reason, he was being duped by Mister Dominic; just like we were," Klaus lamented.

"I wish I knew what he planned to do with that database," Violet commented.

The way that the children had been tied up, Violet was next to Quigley, and they intertwined their hands again thru the ropes and Quigley said, "Do you remember the brief time we had on Mt. Fraught?"

The oldest Baudelaire nodded silently, recalling that and then smiled briefly as she said, "I was very glad to have been with you then and to have met you, Quigley. I still am glad that I am with you now."

He smiled back at her and then added, "I would very much like to do the same thing once we are free from here."

Violet smiled, and a tear fell down her cheek as she realized that the dark haired, wide-eyed youth had accepted the fact that this was likely the end of all of them. Sunny held Beatrice closer to her as they heard the soft sound of the fuse being let outside and Klaus also shed a few tears himself as he realized that they had come no closer to learning the truth about V.F.D. or Lemony Snicket or anything whatsoever and felt that all in all, things couldn't be any worse.

It would truly be saddening, dear reader; if this was how the story of the Baudelaires ended with them trapped inside the sapphire mines of the Quagmire Quarry alongside their dear friend Quigley Quagmire, of whom the eldest Baudelaire was especially fond and wanted to be closer to.

I know right now you are quite likely shedding many tears just as I did whenever the children recounted this incident to me years later over some hot cocoa; but I assure you that the worst of their troubles was still yet to come and that they did in fact live thru the ordeal.

In fact, their story couldn't possibly end here for if you are fully aware of how these stories are written then I'm sure you know that there are always thirteen chapters and this is only chapter eleven; so it would make little sense for me to conclude the story of the Baudelaires here and then use the remaining two chapters to write an entirely different story; perhaps one about my childhood which is probably just as dismal and disappointing as yours was.

Even though this is something I could do; I assure you that it is not and that in fact the Baudelaires and Quigley Quagmire were saved very shortly by an unlikely source.

The five orphans were crying softly whenever a loud voice shrieked, "What is that awful noise coming from in there?" Violet looked around in confusion, trying to see if someone had entered the mines and whenever she saw that no one did she called out, "Is someone here? Please help us!"

"Silence! Children should be seen and not heard!" the voice boomed back and Sunny's eyes popped open as she proclaimed, "That's Babs!"

"Of course its me! Who else would it be? Silence!" the former H.R. director from the Heimlich Hospital snarled and then asked, "Why were the five of you crying all of the sudden?" "Babs please you have to help us! We're trapped in the sapphire mines!" Klaus pleaded.

"Silence! Children should be seen and not heard! I suspect you went in there without permission no doubt!" Babs declared, and before any of the orphans could object the woman they'd heard but never seen remarked, "Just because the rest of the workers have decided to leave the quarry does not give you permission to go gallivanting around wherever you please! Silence! Be glad Sir left or I would report you at once!"

"Babs! There is dynamite in here and the fuse is getting smaller, once it reaches us it will blow up and we'll be dead!" Quigley declared.

"Silence! Well that's fine by me! One less bratty child to deal with if you ask me!" Babs declared and then asked, "What were you doing in those mines without Sir's orders?"

"That doesn't matter right now! We're in terrible danger!" Sunny declared. "Etimnayd!" Beatrice yelled out to which Babs replied, "Silence! Children are supposed to be seen and not heard! Did you at least wear your hardhats?"

"This is getting us nowhere," Quigley lamented. "I have an idea, if I could tie my hair in a knot I could think better," Violet stated.

"There's no time for that now, Violet!" Klaus said. "Babs, Sir doesn't want children like us in here; so we were very disobedient. But don't you think he would be mad if you didn't properly discipline us?" the eldest Baudelaire asked the voice over the intercom. There was no reply for a moment and then Babs admitted, "I suppose you may be right you squabbling brat. Where are you?"

"In the sapphire mines, hurry; we're getting into a lot of trouble," Sunny said; playing along with the ploy that her older sister had come up with to get Babs to help them.

"I hope this works," Klaus said softly. "I can see the fuse is headed our way," Quigley said. The five children all held their breathe as they watched the fuse grow shorter and shorter and get closer and closer toward them and they wondered if Babs was actually rushing to the mines or not and whether or not they actually had a chance to be rescued.

At the last possible moment, the mysterious woman whom the children had seen only once before entered the chamber wearing a hardhat and then walked toward them and declared in the same shrieking nasty voice, "Look what trouble you children have been up to! Playing with dynamite and tying up yourselves with this rope!"

The orphans watched as the fuse came closer toward them, each thinking that this was the end of their lives; and then at the last possible moment Babs stepped on the fuse and put it out declaring, "This is why children should be seen and not heard! You could've been severely hurt! Silence!" All five of the children sighed in relief, knowing that even though Babs would berate them; for the moment they were safe from a possible calamity. Babs knelled down and undid the rope tying them to the machine and declared, "You will all be severely punished though I can assure you of that!"

Without thinking Klaus hugged the curly haired woman and said, "Thank you so much!" Babs was taken aback for a moment by this show of affection, mumbled something about children should be seen and not heard and then guided the five of them out of the sapphire mines.

"I would stick around to watch you children more closely, but I'm afraid a few other duties require my attention! Silence!" Babs declared and then stormed off back to wherever she had come from. Even though all of them were weak from the experience they had just gone thru, Violet, Klaus, Beatrice, Quigley and Sunny all leapt for joy and cheered at the victory they'd just received, glad to have outsmarted Mister Dominic. Quigley was so excited he hugged the eldest Baudelaire tight and then kissed Violet, which caused the sixteen year old girl's face to turn bright red. "I promised you I would do that if we got out of this mess," he said with a bright smile.

Once they had finished celebrating, Klaus looked back at the mines and muttered, "What do we do now?"

"It appears that Mister Dominic and his accomplices have left," Violet commented and then squeezed Quigley's hand and asked, "What do you think we should do? Try to make another copy of the database?"

The dark haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old shook his head negatively and responded, "No that would only make matters worse, I'm afraid." "Then what can we do to make things better?" Sunny asked.

"We need to make our way to the Winnipeg Estate," Klaus realized. Violet looked about the now lifeless quarry and muttered, "Everyone else has already left, except maybe Babs." "We're very lucky that she stayed around to berate us," Quigley said with a smirk and then said, "We're quite a ways from the Winnipeg Estate, it'll be a tough road to tackle on foot."

"There is something else I think we should discuss, before we leave," the eldest Baudelaire declared as she picked up Beatrice and then added, "We have to do something about the mines."

"Nada?" her adoptive sister asked, which probably meant, "What do you mean, Violet? Why would we have to do something about the mines?" or perhaps, "I thought they belonged to Quigley, not to us." "Beatrice is right, this place belongs to the Quagmires," Klaus agreed. "Once long ago it belonged to the Baudelaires too," Violet reminded all of them and then stared at the triplet of whom she was very fond and said, "We're the last survivors of our families; so the decision should be mutual."

"I think I know what you're suggesting, and I believe that I agree with this," Quigley Quagmire said with a nod. "What is it you two are talking about?" Sunny wondered. "The only way we can make sure that database remains safe, is if we destroy it," the dark haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old answered and then explained, "So we'll finish what our enemy was starting, and blow up these mines."


	13. Chapter Twelve

_**Twelve**_

If you have ever inherited a vast sum of money than the last thing you would want to do is waste it foolishly on some kind of devil-may-care activity such as submarines or diving equipment, unless of course you belonged to a secret society that desperately needed such things in order to remain afloat; so to speak.

But under normal circumstances, one does not have need for a submarine or a diving helmet and so therefore would use their inheritance on more practical things such as building banks or perhaps opening a line of bed and breakfast hotels. The very last thing that you would do with such a fortune would be to toss it aside and forget about it entirely, since doing so would insure that didn't have an inheritance at all and most of your friends would probably think you were a fool for doing this.

So whenever Quigley Quagmire proclaimed to his friends that he wanted to blow up the sapphire mines that belonged to his family, it shouldn't surprise you at all that Sunny, Klaus and Beatrice were quite confused. "But Quigley! What about your inheritance?" Klaus asked. "If you blow up the mines, it'll all be gone!" Sunny agreed.

"Hsinav!" Beatrice commented, which probably meant, "I don't know much about money, but what you're saying doesn't make any sense!" or perhaps, "As long as I don't get covered in sand again, I'm fine with this idea!" Quigley chuckled and replied, "Having money doesn't mean that much to me; and besides I want to keep the secrets stored in these mines safe from other intruders like Mister Dominic. He already revealed to us that he isn't working alone." "Who do you suppose his allies are?" Violet asked.

"Nero and Mr. Remora and Mrs. Bass," Klaus suggested.

"Or maybe Professor Edwick," Quigley added.

"The two horrendous judges from the High Court," Sunny reminded them, causing all five of the children to involuntarily shiver at the very thought of running into that dastardly duo again. "He has quite a few allies on his side," the eldest Baudelaire admitted and then added, "It seems like we're all alone." "It may, Violet," Quigley agreed and then added, "But once we're finished here we can head straight toward the Winnipeg Estate and meet the Duchess herself; along with other noble volunteers."

"Gustav Sebald," Klaus stated.

"Falo," Sunny added.

"Lemony Snicket," Quigley told them all and added, "He has been dying to meet all of you again."

"So you're sure that you want to do this?" Violet asked as she gestured toward the mines. "Yes, positive. For some reason I feel that this is something that my parents would want done. They created that database for the purpose of aiding V.F.D.," Quigley Quagmire answered and then added, "I think it would make them very sad to learn that it had fallen into the wrong hands." "Okay then, we'll help," Klaus offered.

"I appreciate that," Quigley said with a smile and then added, "Which is another reason that I have no purpose for an inheritance. I have my friends, the Baudelaires! You four mean more to me than all the wealth I could ever hope to acquire." The seventeen year old paused to look at Violet again and smiled before going on to say, "Let's do this together!"

Beatrice and her siblings nodded in agreement and journeyed into the dark cavern once more, following the burnt trail of ash back into the master computer chamber and Klaus asked, "Do you suppose there is more of that ash we can use to make another trail?"

"There are about thirteen sticks of dynamite here, more than enough to make the entire quarry come crashing down," Sunny observed. "Let's take some of these outside; we don't want to be trapped in this canyon forever," Quigley advised as he carefully lifted the sticks into the crate that the troupe members had brought them in on and then walked outside.

"Here is the ash!" Violet declared as she found the small bag and then began to make a trail from the dynamite back outside. Once the five orphans had accomplished all this, Quigley asked, "Does anyone have a match?"

"It's ironic that we don't," Klaus said with a laugh.

"Actually we're on the noble side of V.F.D., remember? We put out fires," Violet said and then pointed toward the tent where Dominic had been staying and declared, "I bet we find some in there though."

"Derit!" Beatrice wailed helplessly as Sunny picked her up and guessed that what her adopted sister was trying to say was either, "I'm sick of being hauled around! I can crawl quite easily you know!" or perhaps, "I still wish we could've gotten a decent meal while we were here!"

Once they entered Dominic's tent, the five orphans began to look around for any matches and Quigley found a few sticks of bubblegum which he passed to Beatrice; but since it was peppermint flavored; the Baudelaire couldn't chew it. Sunny searched thru the drawers and stated, "Hey, look at this!" She took out a diagram and remarked, "I guess we know what ERT stands for now."

The document read: "Excavating Rugged Terrain, digging deeper than ever dared before."

"I have a feeling there is more to it than that though," Klaus said as he showed the others a brochure he'd found for the Easy Residential Transactions and remarked, "I bet they have something to do with whatever has been going on over the past year."

"I found these," Quigley stated as he jiggled some car keys and then added, "Dominic must've misplaced them."

"Seems odd to forget your car keys," Violet observed and then pulled out a final drawer and remarked, "Well here are plenty of matches." The Quagmire triplet placed the car keys in his pocket, whereas Sunny and Klaus chose to part with their minor discoveries and returned to the entrance of the mines alongside Violet who asked Quigley once again, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

The seventeen year old nodded and took the matches himself; striking one against the box and then tossing it toward the fuse and telling his friends, "We should be well away from here before that thing blows."

"Will it hurt Babs?" Sunny asked. "I'm not sure where she went to," Klaus admitted.

"Quick, let's search the tents!" Violet suggested and then ran to the nearby tents where they'd slept, only to find them empty. Meanwhile, Sunny rushed to the tent where they had received their hardhats; only to find the same thing as they had previously; a table with an intercom sitting on top of it. Taking her chances, Sunny called out, "Babs are you still in the quarry?"

When no reply came, the former toddler returned to the center of the canyon where her siblings and Quigley waited. "It looks like she already left," Klaus observed.

"Then we should do the exact same thing," Violet suggested. Gripping Quigley Quagmire's hand again, the two ran ahead of the other orphans; but all together the five of them reached the edge of the quarry where they had entered several days ago and slipped under the metal bar which had previously impaired them from entering.

Soon the orphans were on the hill that led up to the woods and Quigley suggested, "Let's make our way back to the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin and go from there."

The other children seemed to agree with this idea as they came to the top of the hill and then turned back to look at the quarry one last time. As they did, the expected explosion finally occurred and Klaus, Sunny, Quigley, Beatrice and Violet all watched as the Quagmire Quarry exploded in a blinding light that caused them to fall onto the hillside.

The first explosion was packed with another deafening sound and the middle Baudelaire stated, "The generator must've exploded too! I didn't think about that!" The rumbling of the earth below them was enough to convince the children that they had succeeded and they watched as the rest of the formerly quarrelsome quarry, a word which here means "filled with terrible memories for all five of them" disappeared from existence altogether.

Once the final noise had died down, Quigley commented, "I hope that when I find Duncan and Isadora again that they agree with the decision I've made." Klaus patted his friend on the shoulder and remarked, "I think you did the right thing, let's get back to the church."

The Quagmire triplet nodded dumbly, his eyes still fixed to the giant dust cloud that had formed where the quarry had previously been and then followed his friends into the woods feeling the weight of this decision heavily on his shoulders. Violet looked at him and smiled encouragingly, opened her hand and extended it to him and he smiled back and took it with his own; convinced he had made the right choice.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_**Thirteen**_

I am sure that you have noted by now that this volume of the Baudelaires tale is perhaps slightly shorter than the others prior to it; not to say that I could speak volumes about what took place in the Quagmire Quarry; but much like Quigley, Klaus, Violet, Sunny and Beatrice; I feel it is necessary to move on to other matters just as they did as night fell and they arrived at the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin.

All of them were worn out from the days activities, which included so many unfortunate events that it seemed they were too numerous to list. They had found out the secret of the sapphire mines and had been duped by Mister Dominic, who had succeeded in tricking Sir and making him look like an idiot and then stealing the database which the children had found. Now though, the orphans were worn out and exhausted, unable to go another step as they lay on the front pews of the church and slept more solidly than they had in a very long time.

The next morning, a soft dew began to fall thru the holes in the roof of the Cathedral, awakening Violet as the drops of rain her forehead and she yawned widely and then noted that Quigley was already awake and standing out in the front meadow, sitting on top of the steeple which had fallen ages ago. She walked out of the church and smiled slightly at him, to which he remarked, "I couldn't sleep."

"I'm sorry," she said as she sat down beside him and asked, "What was on your mind?"

"I think the correct question is, what isn't on my mind?" Quigley countered with a slight smile and then added, "I can't help but wonder about Isadora and Duncan, and whether I will see them again. Or if I made the right choice by destroying the sapphire mines that our family owned. But I guess it is too late to second guess myself."

"Well there's no reason for you to do that Quigley, we all supported your decision," Violet assured him. "But will they?" Quigley wondered. "They're your siblings, I'm sure they will," she said with a smile. "I hope you're right," the Quagmire triplet remarked. "I think right now we should figure out how we'll make it to the Winnipeg Estate," Violet told him.

"I have that all planned, but it will be difficult for all us," Quigley replied and added, "And Mister Dominic will probably get there before we do."

The two orphans remained quiet for a moment as they considered this development, unsure how to feel because they knew that the odds were stacked against them. "Do you think we even stand a chance against the forces of wickedness?" Quigley Quagmire asked.

Violet frowned and replied, "You shouldn't doubt that we will prevail! I know we've had our setbacks, but I think we've had some victories too." "Minor ones..." Quigley replied and then added, "But I suppose I shouldn't be so negative. You're right, we can't consider giving up now. We have to head to the Winnipeg Estate and meet with the Duchess and Mister Snicket. Everyone is counting on us!"

"So we really haven't a moment to lose," the oldest orphan agreed and then added, "I'll go wake my siblings." "Violet!" the Quagmire triplet proclaimed, stopping her before she ran back inside the chapel and asking, "I was wondering if I could ask you something?" The eldest Baudelaire chuckled softly and replied, "You don't need permission, Quigley. What is it?"

"I was wondering if you would agree to a pact?" he asked timidly. "You mean like a vow?" she asked in response.

"Yes exactly. Just the between the two of us?" Quigley inquired. "Why are you being serious all of the sudden?" Violet asked. The Quagmire triplet reached his hand over to where hers rested and placed it softly on top of Violet's before explaining, "Whenever we lost track of one another on the slippery slopes of Mt. Fraught I couldn't think of anything except finding you again. It took me over a year to find you, and now it seems like we'll be apart again. I don't want that to happen..."

"Quigley, what do you mean?" Violet asked. "This is hard to explain. If we were talking about inventions and maps it would be easier, but I can't explain what I feel," the orphan answered. Violet's brow furrowed in concern as she thought about this and asked, "You mean you don't want to lose your compass?"

"Huh?" Quigley asked. "You're a mapmaker and familiar with geography, but without a compass you would be completely lost, right?" Violet explained. "Yes, that's true," Quigley admitted and added, "You're like the compass."

"That makes sense. I would be lost without a ribbon to tie my hair with," the eldest Baudelaire exclaimed.

"Am I like your ribbon?" Quigley Quagmire asked. Violet nodded for a second, causing the dark haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old to smile widely and then asked, "So do you agree to a pact?"

"A promise to never be apart?" she guessed. Quigley nodded and Violet replied, "We should give each other something so that even if we are apart, we'll have something from each other."

"That's a good idea," the Quagmire triplet agreed and then reached into his pocket and pulled out his compass. "Quigley! You're giving me your compass? But you'll be lost without it!" Violet exclaimed. "Maybe so, but I can always get another one," the orphan explained as he passed it the eldest Baudelaire and added, "There's only one you."

Violet Baudelaire took the compass and gazed at it for a moment before smiling and stating, "And I know precisely what I can give you." She reached into her hair and undid the ribbon, letting it fall to her shoulders and then passed it to Quigley and stated, "So now the pact is final. As long as I have your compass and you have my ribbon, we'll never be apart, right?"

"That's right," Quigley said with a smile as he took it and for a moment the two orphans held hands until at last Violet broke the silence and said, "We should wake the others up."

Quigley nodded in agreement and together they entered the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin and woke Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice up. As the younger Baudelaires woke, Quigley gathered his supplies and got out the map he had of the Winnipeg Wastelands and proclaimed, "We've got a long journey ahead of us so we better get started."

"We can't travel on foot the whole way there!" Klaus objected. "If we do that, Mister Dominic will definitely get there before us!" Sunny pointed out. "I know the situation seems dire but I think there may be a way for us to catch up with our enemies." "How are we going to do that?" Violet asked. "Hopefully the keys Mister Dominic misplaced can start a car left in the quarry," Quigley commented. "But that explosion probably destroyed everything in the canyon!" Sunny lamented.

"I think Mister Dominic expected us to escape those mines alive, and find these keys," Quigley Quagmire explained. "So he is leading us into a trap?" Klaus asked.

"He is fully aware of what is happening at the Winnipeg Estate just as much as we are, and he expects us to show up and try to stop him. I admit I don't know why our enemy would do this, but we still need to go and save the Duchess and the noble volunteers of V.F.D." "Quigley is right," the eldest Baudelaire declared and stated, "Let's go back to the canyon and find out if there is something left."

Without another word, the five orphans departed from the Cathedral of the Alleged Virgin and followed Quigley Quagmire to the hill which overlooked the quarry that his family had once owned.

As the children gazed down at the hollow pit which had previously been filled with bulldozers, and cranes and dump trucks and all other assortments of equipment they couldn't help but feel entirely alone as they walked on the opposite side of the hill which sloped to the canyon and began to move away from the quarry altogether.

"I never thought I'd miss that incessant racket," Klaus commented.

Ahead of them lay the Winnipeg Wastelands, which was mostly torn forests and mountains and a mixture of deserts, making it fit the area very fittingly.

"Quigley! Look!" Violet said as they came to the top of another hill and she pointed down the road where several cars were parked in an abandoned parking lot. Shopping carts were thrown upside down and to one side and trash littered the formerly luxurious parking lot as they approached and the dark haired, wide-eyed seventeen year old reached into his pocket and pulled out the car keys and said, "Let's see if these work on one of the vehicles."

There were five keys on the ring and there were only three cars in the abandoned parking lot so the children knew that there chances might be in their favor, despite all the other unfavorable things which had befallen them lately. Rushing to the parking lot, Quigley, Beatrice, Klaus, Sunny and Violet searched the three cars and Klaus called out, "Let's try this one first! It has almost a full tank of gas!"

Quigley nodded and got into the driver's seat and tried each of the keys, but to no avail. "Well there are still two cars left, those keys are bound to work on one of them," Violet assured her siblings. The other two cars looked just as old as the first, and Quigley got in one that had half a tank of gas and tried again all of the keys. One of them appeared to have worked and then the engine died and Sunny stated, "This is a waste of time!"

"Let's try the final automobile before we give up entirely," Violet told them. The other children nodded in agreement and slowly walked over to the final car, which was a dull brown and Quigley got inside and began to try the keys. The first and the second failed, but the third key seemed to be working and Klaus said, "Try to rev the engine again!"

Quigley did, this time holding the key in place until at last the car started up and when it did, all of the orphans cheered excitedly. "We did it!" Violet exclaimed. "We can drive to the Winnipeg Estate!" Klaus agreed.

"And stop Mister Dominic!" Sunny added.

"Dne!" Beatrice said excitedly, which no one bothered to translate because they were all too busy congratulating each other.

I must congratulate you also, dear reader, for having made it this far without tearing your hair out or even considering jumping off a bridge especially whenever at the beginning of this story I assured you that there would be no happily ever after for the Baudelaires or their friend Quigley Quagmire, you definitely deserve congratulations for making it this far.

It is one thing to read that there will be nothing but bitter circumstances for five well behaved children who deserve medals of honor rather than woeful experiences but quite another to endure thirteen dreadful chapters detailing those events so by doing so you also deserve a medal of honor.

Unfortunately, I haven't any to give so instead I can only tell you that the five children climbed into the dull brown car as Quigley put it in reverse and then drove out of the lot onto the old road to the south with the sun rising to the east to alert them that the day had officially begun. And they didn't live happily ever after, but they were alive and for now that was something each of them were quite happy about.


	15. To My Kind Editor

To Whom It May Concern, My Kind Editor,

Please excuse this fancy invitation to the masquerade ball of the Duchess of Winnipeg which you have been cordially invited to, but should must likely not attend whatsoever.

Enclosed along with it, is a personal rendering of a fake painting, a map of the courtyard and a photograph taken at the Winnipeg Estate where Violet, Klaus, Sunny and Beatrice went to try and meet a rather obscure author who may or may not be alive during their time here in the sixth portion of their miserable tale, entitled, THE RANSACKED RENDEVOUS.

Remember, you may be my last hope to get these events chronicled so that the Baudelaires story is told to the public,

With all Due Respect, Lemony Snicket.


End file.
